Former prisoner turned memoirist and poet R. Dwayne Betts spoke to students Wednesday about his life and writings at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing on the Tempe campus.

Betts read from his 2009 memoir, “A Question of Freedom,” about being incarcerated in an adult prison for his role in a carjacking when he was only 16 years old.

“Betts’ story is an amazing one, a story of empowerment,” said Sean Nevin, assistant director at the Piper Center.

Betts told the gathering of about two-dozen students and faculty in attendance how he became engrossed with poetry in his eight years behind bars.

“I always loved reading, and there was no other way for me to gain a voice except through writing,” Betts said.

He graduated from the University of Maryland in May 2009, where he was the honorary student commencement speaker. His poetry has been published in several literary journals and his debut collection of poetry, “Shahid Reads His Own Palm,” will be released in May.

Betts was offered a book deal for a memoir after he received front-page coverage in the Washington Post about a book club he founded for young boys in 2006. He said he was partly motivated to write about his experiences because of how much he disliked the impression that most prison memoirs gave of incarceration.

“Books are there for conversations, and I wanted to prompt a conversation about prison that I could be proud of,” he said.

Betts is now a director for the nonprofit D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, which provides writing instruction to schools in the southeast Washington, D.C. area.

“I always wanted to be a poet as well as a teacher,” he said.

Grade-school English classes mostly focus on basic skills like grammar to meet district standards, but introducing creative writing will engage students with literature, he said.

“These kids have no access to people who actually write, so we hire people who can teach them how to use these skills,” Betts said.

He will speak Thursday to kids at the juvenile corrections center of the Adobe Mountain School in north Phoenix. The engagement was organized by the Young Writers Program at ASU, which places writing teachers in public schools and other youth organizations to engage students in creative writing.

Betts said young people in trouble need more than just good advice to overcome their struggles.

“The best I can do is offer myself to the kids I teach, and I try to provide opportunities for them to succeed,” he said.

Nevin said the kids at Adobe Mountain are very engaged with Betts and his story.

“They are the group that needs to hear from him most,” Nevin said.

Betts said the opportunity he’s been given to impact kids with his teaching is a product of his dedication to poetry.

“I’ve been fortunate to gain respect as a writer, and I can now do more because of that,” he said.

Reach the reporter at chase.kamp@asu.edu