Boston Book Festival 2019

Dwayne Betts’s personal story is one of reinvention and redemption. Convicted of felony carjacking in his teens, Betts was sentenced to nine years in prison. He was released after eight, determined to use education to change his path in life and to advocate for others. With inspiring speed, he earned a bachelor’s degree, an MFA, and a law degree—becoming one of the first felons to do so—from Yale Law School. As well, he’s currently a PhD candidate in law at Yale. Poet, memoirist, lawyer, husband, father, and, yes, felon Reginald Dwayne Betts brings all these identities to bear on his new poetry collection, Felon, which indicts the profoundly destabilizing effects prison and the post-incarceration period have on ex-convicts, making the case that prison is not merely a place but also a force that exerts itself powerfully on individuals and communities. Betts’s poems also push the boundaries of poetry itself, incorporating traditional forms but also creating new ones that help illuminate the language and themes of each piece, while underscoring their vital importance. Boston Pulse performer, and student, Sumeya Aden will open the session; then, Betts will give a brief talk and reading, followed by an interview and Q&A led by journalist and Mass Poetry board chair Nicco Mele. Sponsored by G. Barrie Landry.