tbetty

If I just told you I was a writer/a sister/an aunt/a teacher, would that be enough? I grew up loving doorknocker earrings, fresh gym shoes, ntozake shange and MC LYTE, "In Living Color" and "20/20." I miss some of the best comedians. Some days, I feel torn between pursuing a doctoral degree and doing the most that my activist heart allows in... more »

If I just told you I was a writer/a sister/an aunt/a teacher, would that be enough? I grew up loving doorknocker earrings, fresh gym shoes, ntozake shange and MC LYTE, "In Living Color" and "20/20." I miss some of the best comedians. Some days, I feel torn between pursuing a doctoral degree and doing the most that my activist heart allows in this crazy world of war, pollution, -isms and miseducation (if any education). I do know I need to write. I love to read. Travel connects me to a larger world and humbles me. I get the best hugs from the most darling fiancee in the world. I can be downright silly, but I know that words have always been the wellspring & the weapon.

I'm on facebook, myspace, friendster (once in a blue moon), hi5, and my personal website is www.tarabetts.net.


THE OFFICIAL BIO SAYS:
Tara Betts is a poet, activist, educator, and performer originally from Kankakee, Illinois. A graduate of Loyola University, she received her MFA in Poetry from New England College in 2007. She authored two chapbooks, Can I Hang? and Switch, and her work is collected in several anthologies, including Bum Rush The Page, The Spoken Word Revolution, and Gathering Ground. Her work appears in the journals Callaloo, Women Studies Quarterly, Drum Voices Revue, and Essence. Her work was commissioned for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company production Words on Fire, and she appeared in the Southwest VDay production of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues at Chicago's DuSable Museum. In addition, she represented Chicago twice at the National Poetry Slam, and appeared on the fourth season of HBO's Def Poetry.

During 13 years as a teaching artist in Chicago, Betts co-founded several initiatives for young women writers, including GirlSpeak (a program of Young Chicago Authors) and the open mic and performance space Women OutLoud. She has worked with young people in various settings, including Gallery 37, Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, and City Girls, a rehabilitation center for teen girls. Upon relocating to New York City in 2005, she continued her work with youth and women writers, facilitating workshops for the Sadie Nash Project, Urban Word NYC, and the Bronx Council on the Arts, among others. Betts serves as a lecturer in creative writing at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, teaches workshops with Bronx youth through DreamYard and contributes regularly to Mosaic magazine. « less