“Take your time.”
Quick Facts
Education: Graduate, Furman University, University of South Carolina, Converse University
Years of Experience: 20 years
About
Marlanda Dekine is a Listening Poet, lending herself to write, publish, and read aloud poems. As a child, Marlanda wrote poems to process difficult emotions, and while she attended Furman University, participated in her first poetry slam. She highlights poets like Saul Williams and Patricia Smith, crediting their readings as models for her own performances.
As a Listening Poet, Marlanda has opportunities to collaborate with artists across all mediums. She emphasizes the importance of creating as often as possible and practicing without external validation. Marlanda advocates for professional workshops with other writers in order to “stretch your ideas of what is possible,” and insists on only keeping the feedback “that makes your work better.”