In the Media

Highlights of Freedom Reads and its work in the media.

Our Favorite Books for Every Type of Mom
The New York Times May 7, 2025

Doggerel, the latest collection of poetry from Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, is featured in The New York Times' recommendations on books for Mother's Day.

Can We Offer You A Little Dignity And Candor?
The Pickup by Meredith Boe May 6, 2025

Recap of Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts' keynote at the Tulsa LitFest.

Jazz Poetry Month At City of Asylum / Alphabet City, North Side
WZUM May 2, 2025

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts will participate in Jazz Poetry Month at the City of Asylum in Pittsburgh this May.

Princeton’s ‘Freedom Libraries’ Deliver Books to Incarcerated Readers
Princeton Alumni Weekly by Alison Bowen May 2, 2025

Freedom Reads, with support from the Princeton University Library, opened nine Freedom Libraries at Garden State Correctional Facility in New Jersey last year.

Incarcerated people in CT to judge nationwide book competition
Connecticut Public Radio by Eddy Martinez May 2, 2025

The Freedom Reads team brought the 2025 Inside Literary Prize to Cybulski and Carl Robinson Correctional Institutions in Connecticut last week.

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.