Tara Betts is the author of the poetry collections Refuse to Disappear, Break the Habit, and Arc & Hue. In addition to her work as a teaching artist and mentor for young poets, she has taught at Rutgers University, University of Illinois-Chicago, DePaul University, Northwestern University, and at Stateville Prison via Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project. She is the Inaugural Poet for The People Practitioner Fellow at University of Chicago. Tara is also the Poetry Editor at The Langston Hughes Review and founder of the nonprofit organization The Whirlwind Learning Center on Chicago’s South Side.