Deanna won the UK Poetry Slam at age 18. Since then she has pushed down closed doors and held them open for others, curating spoken word events, facilitating workshops, writing prolific commissions, and mentoring. She is a Clore Fellow, a Pervasive Media Studios Resident and trustee of Easton Children’s Community Centre. Recently her reimagined version of ‘If’ was read by Serena Williams and she featured on BBC’s The Art That Made Us.
As a poet she has worked in countries across five continents and has been commissioned by numerous brands and organisations including; FIFA, St Paul’s Cathedral, Nationwide, Keats’ House Museum, Young Vic, Adidas, and BBC. She designs and delivers educational programs, and tutors at the School of Communication Arts. She has two publications. ‘I Did It Too’ celebrating a decade of work, (Burning Eye Books). and his fingers have left a process and poetry collection of five form poems responding to Kevin Elyot's archive in the Bristol University's Theatre Collection (also Burning Eye Books).
Theatre commissions include Greek Myths Reimagined (Unicorn Theatre), Now We Are Here (Young Vic Dir. Ian Rickson), and Sing Before You Speak Again (Young Vic).
A master facilitator.
She has facilitated poetry for over ten years and adapts, designs, and delivers long term and intensive programs. Projects include; The Art of Dispute with Lauderdale House, Writing for Performance module (with the late Benjamin Zephaniah at Brunel University), Poetry and Public Engagement module at UWE (with Alyson Hallett) and Who Knows Poetry (Arts Council and National Lottery Grant funded).
She’s worked with the British Council (various), Arvon Foundation, Disney, Roundhouse Camden, Lyric Hammersmith, Albany Deptford, Apples and Snakes, New Writing South, Clifton College, National Theatre, Young Vic, The Old Vic, Cardboard Citizens, Foundling Museum, Tate, Arts Admin, Hamilton Trust and countless others, and is an in-house tutor at School of Communication Arts (‘The most successful AD school in the world’)
This combined skill set of performer and facilitator has secured her work all over the globe including Mexico (Anglo Arts), Sudan, Zimbabwe, Canada (British Council) as well as schools tour of Scotland (Scottish Book Trust), and with many different groups of people; refugees (Young Vic); women affected by the criminal justice system; sex workers; victims of DV (Futures Theatre) and, creatives (National Theatre and many other UK theatres).
Publications:
I Did It too
his fingers have left
Both Burning Eye Books
Featured in
Poems for a Green and Blue Planet edited by Sabrina Mahfouz
Everything is Going to be Alright edited by Cecilia Knapp
Upcoming publications
Rebel Girls
(unreleased title) Penguin
Featured in anthologies:
Poems for a Green and Blue Planet - edited by Sabrina Mahfouz
Everything’s going to be Alright - edited by Cecilia Knapp
154 Contemporary Sonnets - Live Canon