Reginald Dwayne Betts is an American poet, legal scholar, educator and prison reform advocate. At age 16 he committed an armed carjacking, was prosecuted as an adult, and was sentenced to nine years in prison. He started reading and writing poetry during his incarceration. After his release, Betts earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School. He served on President Barack Obama's Coordinating Council of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He founded Freedom Reads, an organization that gives incarcerated people access to books. In September 2021, Betts was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.

The Best American Poetry 2020
2020
ISBN 9781982106614
There's a Revolution Outside, My Love
2021
ISBN 9780593314692Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry
2019

There's a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis
2021
ISBN 9780593314708