Deanna

I have admired the brand for its dynamism and coolness. An Adidas tracksuit has been a statement of cool casual for me for many years, and so it is fait to say that to be commissioned by Adidas has been a long time dream of mine.

However working with brands always comes with questions about ethics; sustainability and plastic waste. It has been REMARKABLE to learn about the work Adidas has been doing in collaboration with other organisations to address this. To lead a market with works with nature.

I worked closely (and quickly) with the agency and their senior copywriter, who I learnt loads from along the way.

This campaign is not their first and will not be their last and I am very, very proud of what we have made, and to of lent my pen and my voice.

To close off 2020 I was asked by the BBC Sports team to write a poem which addressed the courage of athletes in the face of discrimination. This was no easy feat. With such a surge in support (and opposition) I knew that a commission like this required the upmost care and consideration. I had to have clear intention as to what I wanted to put into the world, to be watched by the nation.

I am very proud of myself for creating this and am thankful to my family and the production team for taking care with this poem and performance.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/sports-personality/55390911

Mothership Writers was set up by novelist Emylia Hall to provide a space for new mothers to engage as writers. Sessions were delivered fortnightly across three different groups. When I moved to Bristol a good friend of mine told me about the group and I emailed straightaway. Moving to a new city and having a bay are two major things which should probably be done with a gap between them. Both mark a considerable shift of identity and both require a huge amount of energy and focus.

A commission I wrote with BBC Sport to celebrate Black History Month 2020. I also performed the voiceover. Recorded with Esion Noise.

This commission was actually written on my due date for my second child. We were in a lockdown I was due to give birth and I needed something to take my mind off of it and to create something kind and generous for the nation. This was the poem I wrote and the recording I managed to do! I gave birth a week later!

2020 marked the 200th anniversary of Keats publication of Lamia etc. Keats House Poetry Forum were asked to respond to Keats’ writing with a piece of their own and a reading of the text they were inspired by.

I chose Ode to a Grecian Urn to respond to. I decided to mimc the style and narrative arc of Keats’ poem.

Being asked to write a poem about a human whose extraordinary talent has broken records again and again was and is still a highlight in my writing career. I am so inspired by Dina Asher Smith’s determination and resilience and hope that this poem demonstrates that.

Created with Ian Rickson and Young Viv’s Taking Part program. This play was a collaboration.

Over a series of workshops with asylum seekers, four stories emerged and were carefully sculpted for the stage.

https://www.youngvic.org/blog/now-we-are-here-reviews

As part of the BBC's summer of women's sport, I wrote a special version of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, If.

For it, I reimagined and appropriated the inspirational poem as a powerful message for the modern day woman.

This was a commission I thought long and hard about before taking. How can I remake this famous poem so that the legacy of it inspiration is refreshed and appropriate for the time and values we find ourselves in now?

An innovative campaign from M&C Saatchi. 12 poets were recruited to create and perform poems on the underground. I was stationed at London Liverpool Street and Angel and created an anthology of poems for the commuters and the stations staff.

Morning Stories | Deanna's Theory Of Everything

A commission written for The Guardian when I was trying to find somewhere reasonable to rent.

A commission written for a book of contemporary sonnets. We all got given a Shakespeare sonnet to write a response to. You can buy the book and watch the video which was brilliantly captured by Muddy Feet poetry.

I’ve written a whole pamphlet in form which will be published in Nov 2021 by Burning Eye, and delivered workshops which celebrate sonnets as a form of discourse with the British Council in Sudan and Canada.

I have been honoured to of been welcomed to share my poetry and practice on number of TedX stages.

Poet in The City and St Paul’s Cathedral commissioned five poets to write a poem each on an aspect of the cathedral. These were then recorded as an audio exhibition for people to listen to whilst in the Cathedral, and performed in front of a live audience of 2000 people; the largest audience St Paul’s Cathedral had attracted where the Queen wasn’t present.

The other commissioned poets are:

Anthony Anaxagorou

Inua Ellams

Kei Meller

Patience Agbabi

Program designer and lead facilitator 

A spoken word project which looked at the theme of human rights in the context of Lauderdale House. It is inspired by Lauderdale House’s former resident, the prominent Quaker William Mead.

Mead's fight for freedom of religion and the right to a fair trial was instrumental in establishing the right of a jury to deliver, independently, a verdict without fear of reprisal, even if that verdict was ‘perverse’.

Through a series of sessions delivered with professional poets, project participants explore the power of words to respond to issues that are important to them today such as gender, racism, sexuality and education.

It has been delivered in youth centres, across three secondary schools, adapted for different age groups, and most recently, digitally.

https://www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk/community/secondary-schools

This project is currently possible thanks to funding from the Sigrid Rausing Trust.