Mr. Betts, who has now published three collections of poetry and a memoir, is running the books project with the Yale Law School’s Justice Collaboratory, an organization focused on criminal justice reform. (Knowing that he would like to include some children’s books in the collection, Mr. Betts also plans to consult his 8- and 12-year-old old sons as sort of ex officio members of the curatorial team.) The list will likely be finished in about six months, Mr. Betts said. Right now, Dr. Hinton said that she and Mr. Betts have a shared Google doc where they are compiling titles. Mr. Betts also sees “Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison as a necessary part of the collection; Dr. Hinton would like Ann Petry’s “The Street” and Octavia E. Butler’s “Kindred” on there.

Source: New York Times June 30, 2020 15:00 UTC