There may be no other English professor quite like Randall Horton.
The title of his award-winning book, “{#289-128}: Poems” includes his Maryland Department of Corrections number. Randall Horton was imprisoned after selling cocaine and was released in 1997. He was hired at the University of New Haven in 2009.
The book received the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, an honor previously earned by acclaimed authors Isabel Allende and the late Toni Morrison. It is only one of a long list of awards Horton has earned over the years.
His love of writing came to him in prison, he said.
“While serving time, there would be this group therapy session, where we had to write down answers to these questions that the therapists would give us,” Horton said. “I was doing everything just in the motions, because I had to.”
Being one of the few people – maybe the only one – with seven felony convictions and a tenured position in academia – was the farthest thing from his mind, he said. But when he was released from prison, he continued his studies at the University at Albany SUNY, where he graduated in 2001.
“I didn’t even have so much as a phone,” he said.
When it came time to apply for jobs, Horton said he’d never heard of the University of New Haven, but he applied, anyway. During his job interviews, he was careful about revealing too much of his past.
“I never mentioned that I had been to prison multiple times,” he said.
But then he contacted the then-dean of students and explained that he had served time in prison.
“And he told me, ‘So what?’” said Horton. “University of New Haven took a chance on me. That is why I am here.”
Horton includes his past in his lessons, he said.
“I always believed in being open about my experiences on the wrong side of society,” he said. “My story is one that I believe should be shared. I teach with my heart to talk about it.”
He also tells students to find a favorite author.
“In order to fall in love with your own work, you have to fall in love with someone else’s work first,” he said. “That’s what my mentor taught me, and I felt it in my heart.
“You cannot be a writer without being a reader. The two go hand in hand. That’s why you have to read other people’s work. Writing is complicated, you shouldn’t take it for granted.”
In his spare time, Horton enjoys golfing, reading, writing and playing with the social justice band, “Radical Reversal,” which he was a co-founder of and serves as the poet of the band “Heroes Are Gang Leaders.”
