American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 41 (2020) Winner
Reginald Dwayne Betts
レジナルド・ドウェイン・ベッツ
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Pen Names:
Shahid（Name given during incarceration (nickname)）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- Maryland, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- District Heights, Maryland → Bowie, Maryland → Washington, D.C. area → New Haven, Connecticut → Cambridge, Massachusetts
Career
- Occupations
- poet, legal scholar, educator, prison reform advocate, lawyer, teacher
- Active Years
- 2002-2025
- Affiliations
- Yale Law School (Associate Research Scholar in Law), Harvard University (Visiting Lecturer on English), Freedom Reads (Founder & Director), Campaign for Youth Justice (national spokesman)
- Influenced By
- Dudley Randall, Robert Hayden, Sonia Sanchez, Lucille Clifton
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prince George's Community College | — | — | — | — | United States |
| University of Maryland, College Park | — | — | 学士 (BA) | — | United States |
| Warren Wilson College | — | Creative Writing | M.F.A. | — | United States |
| Yale University (Yale Law School) | Law School | — | Juris Doctor (JD) | — | United States |
Prince George's Community College
Country:
United States
Attended after incarceration; worked at a local bookstore while studying
University of Maryland, College Park
Degree:
学士 (BA)
Country:
United States
Warren Wilson College
Creative Writing
Degree:
M.F.A.
Year of Graduation:
2010
Country:
United States
M.F.A. in Creative Writing
Yale University (Yale Law School)
Law School
Degree:
Juris Doctor (JD)
Year of Graduation:
2016
Country:
United States
Later began coursework toward a Ph.D. in law at Yale
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Beatrice Hawley Award | Shahid Reads His Own Palm | — | The Society of the Hawley Family | 受賞 |
| 2010 | Open Society Foundations Fellowship | — | — | Open Society Foundations | 受賞 |
| 2010 | NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author | A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison | — | NAACP | 受賞 |
| 2017 | Israel H. Peres Prize | Only Once I Thought About Suicide (student comment) | 学生コメンタリー | Yale Law Journal | 受賞 |
| 2018 | PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship | — | — | PEN America | 受賞 |
| 2018 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2021 | MacArthur Fellowship | — | — | MacArthur Foundation | 受賞 |
Beatrice Hawley Award
2009
Work:
Shahid Reads His Own Palm
Organization:
The Society of the Hawley Family
Result:
受賞
Open Society Foundations Fellowship
2010
Organization:
Open Society Foundations
Result:
受賞
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author
2010
Work:
A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison
Organization:
NAACP
Result:
受賞
Israel H. Peres Prize
2017
Work:
Only Once I Thought About Suicide (student comment)
Category:
学生コメンタリー
Organization:
Yale Law Journal
Result:
受賞
PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship
2018
Organization:
PEN America
Result:
受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2018
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
2021
Organization:
MacArthur Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 42 (2021) Winner
Works
Major Works
Near Burn and Burden: a collection of poems
2010 PoetryAn early collection exploring incarceration, personal growth, and the restorative power of language.
incarcerationpersonal recoverylanguage and expression
Shahid Reads His Own Palm
2010 PoetryPoems reflecting on incarceration, identity, and testimony; winner of the Beatrice Hawley Award.
prison lifetestimonyidentity
Bastards of the Reagan Era
2015 PoetryA collection critiquing the effects of generational politics and policies, illuminating connections between incarceration and society.
social critiquepolicygeneration
Felon: Poems
2019 PoetryA poetic exploration of criminal labeling and its social impacts, intersecting personal experience with systemic issues.
labeling as a felonsystemspersonal narrative
Redaction
2023 Poetry / CollaborationA collaborative work with visual artist Titus Kaphar exploring redaction, memory, and censorship of language.
redactionmemorycensorship
Doggerel: Poems
2025 PoetryLatest collection featuring linguistic play and sharp social observation.
linguistic experimentationsocial observation
A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison
2010 Memoir / Non-fictionA memoir recounting incarceration, the discovery of poetry, and rebuilding life after release.
memoireducationrehabilitation
Bibliography
- Near Burn and Burden: a collection of poems (2010)
- Shahid Reads His Own Palm (2010)
- A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison (2010)
- Bastards of the Reagan Era (2015)
- Felon: Poems (2019)
- Redaction (2023)
- Doggerel: Poems (2025)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- forthright, testimonial voicenarrative and lyric poetic styleinterweaving legal and political concerns
- Recurring Motifs
- images of prison and confinementfreedom and rehabilitationreading and educationidentity
Legacy
Combines poetic practice with legal expertise to advocate for prison education and justice reform. Founder of Freedom Reads and influential both as a poet and an advocate for systemic change.
Quotes
-
In a poem you can give somebody a whole world.
Source: NGC Bocas Lit Fest (speech) (2016)
Trivia
- Was given the name 'Shahid' during incarceration.
- Founded Freedom Reads and launched the project with a $5.25 million Mellon Foundation grant.
- Named to the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention by President Barack Obama.