In the Media

Highlights of Freedom Reads and its work in the media.

12 quintessential May events, from the Pittsburgh Marathon to the Pierogi Festival
NEXT Pittsburgh by Jennifer Baron April 30, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts will be giving a poetry reading at Pittsburgh's Jazz Poetry Month this May.

Freedom Reads Libraries Expand at Decatur Correctional Center
NowDecatur by Lindsay Romano April 28, 2025

Freedom Reads opened 22 Freedom Libraries and brought the Inside Literary Prize 2025 to Illinois prisons.

Tulsa LitFest features poet Reginald Dwayne Betts
Fox23 News April 26, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts performed his solo show at the Tulsa LitFest in Oklahoma.

22 libraries open in two Illinois prison facilities, IDOC announces
WCIA by Bradley Zimmerman April 24, 2025

Freedom Reads opened 22 Freedom Libraries across Illinois River and Decatur Correctional Center, and brought the Inside Literary Prize to Decatur and Western Correctional Centers.

Poems That Lean Into Calm and Joy Amid Life’s Chaos
The New York Times by Stephanie Burt April 23, 2025

Doggerel, the latest poetry collection by Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, is featured in this New York Times piece on recent collections.

Reginald Dwayne Betts headlines Tulsa LitFest with performance, talks
News On 6 by Zachary Sabel April 22, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts will be the keynote speaker for this year's Tulsa LitFest in Oklahoma.

How Black poets built the 'centifugal force' in modern American literature
Los Angeles Times by Manuel Betancourt April 14, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts was quoted in the Los Angeles Times' feature on the Cave Canem poetry retreat, and its 30th anniversary.

A Pandemic Puppy Inspired Reginald Dwayne Betts’s New Book
The New York Times by Scott Heller April 3, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts talked books he loves, Freedom Reads, and his new poetry collection, Doggerel, in The New York Times' "By the Book" series.

John Himmelman, Reginald Dwayne Betts take a populist approach to poetry in new books
NPR by Andrew Limbong March 28, 2025

Doggerel, the latest book of poetry by Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, is featured on NPR's Book of the Day podcast.

A Showcase for Formerly Incarcerated Artists Grows in Brooklyn
The New York Times by Hilarie M. Sheets March 27, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts' books will be displayed in the Center for Art and Advocacy's new public exhibition and education space.

Center for Poets and Writers: cultivating a literary community in Tulsa
News9 by Brooke Cox March 26, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts will give the keynote and a local prison reading at this years Tulsa LitFest.

Reginald Dwayne Betts discusses his new collection of poems, 'Doggerel'
NPR by Michel Martin March 10, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts discussed his latest collection of poetry, Doggerel, on NPR's Morning Edition with Michel Martin.