Author's Biography 
 
 

 

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a husband and father of two sons. As a poet, essayist and national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice, Betts writes and lectures about the impact of mass incarceration on American society. In April 2012, President Obama appointed Betts to the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. In 2011 Betts was awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship to Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies. The author of the memoir, A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison (Avery/Penguin 2009) and the collection of poetry, Shahid Reads His Own Palm (Alice James Books, 2010), Betts' work possesses a careful, complicated and often difficult-to-confront intimacy that challenges conventional ideas about crime, masculinity and redemption. In 2010 he was awarded an NAACP Image Award for A Question of Freedom, and a Soros Justice Fellowship to complete The Circumference of a Prison, a work of nonfiction exploring the criminal justice system's role in the every day lives of Americans who have not committed crimes. He received his B.A. from the University of Maryland.
 
Biography adapted from http://www.rdwaynebetts.com.

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Convocation Weekend Schedule of Events

 Saturday, August 24, 2013 at 7:00pm

Dwayne will visit Murfreesboro's Linebaugh Library for a book signing and to speak to the community book clubs that will be reading the book. 

Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 2:00pm

The Distinguished Lecture Committee has invited Dwayne to speak at MTSU's University Convocation. 
It is the kick off of the new school year and all MTSU students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff are invited to attend.