UND to host poet and spoken-word artist Tara Betts on Tuesday, Oct. 6

The University of North Dakota Writers Conference, in partnership with Multicultural Student Services, the Women’s Center, and the Black Students Association, is pleased to announce a special fall event. Poet and spoken-word artist Tara Betts will read from her work at 4 p.m., on Tuesday, Oct. 6, in the Memorial Union River Valley Room. The event is free and open to the public. Betts is the author of “Arc & Hue” and the chapbook/libretto THE GREATEST: An Homage to Muhammad Ali. Betts is a Cave Canem alumna, whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry magazine, The Break Beat Poets, Essence, Crab Orchard Review, Callaloo, and Ninth Letter, among others. Betts also appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam” and the Black Family Channel series “Spoken” with Jessica Care Moore. After winning Guild Complex’s Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award, she represented Chicago twice at the National Poetry Slam. She also coached youth who participated in Brave New Voices and Chicago\u27s Louder Than a Bomb. Betts encourages literacy and works with arts programs. In Chicago, she was an influential educator. Tara co-founded GirlSpeak, a weekly writing/leadership workshop for young women. She has also conducted short-term workshops in schools, community centers, Ms. Foundation, City Girls (a substance abuse rehabilitation center for teen girls), Cook County Jail and Cook County Juvenile Detention Center, Louder Arts Project, Cooper Union, Dodge Foundation’s Poets-In-The-Schools program, London’s Roundhouse, and the Binghamton Poetry Project. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Binghamton University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New England College