Dekine, Marlanda: - Marlanda Dekine (she/they) is a poet obsessed with ancestry, memory, and the process of staying within one's own body. Their work manifests as books, audio projects, and workshops, leaving spells and incantations for others to follow for themselves. Dekine's work has been published or is forthcoming in Southern Humanities Review, POETRY Magazine, Emergence Magazine, Juke Joint Magazine, OROBORO, Screen Door Review, Root Work Journal, and elsewhere. They are the Founder and former Executive Director of Speaking Down Barriers, Spoken Word Spartanburg, and other organizations that make space for all beings. Currently, they serve as a Healing Justice Fellow with Gender Benders and the 2021-2022 Creative-In-Residence with Castle of our Skins. Dekine is the recipient of many awards, including a Tin House Own Path Scholarship (2021), a SC Humanities Award for Fresh Voices in Humanities (2019), Emrys' Keller Cushing Freeman Fellowship (2019), and grants from the SC Arts Commission, Alternate Roots, The Map Fund, and other organizations. They are a graduate of Furman University (B.A. Psychology), University of South Carolina (M.S.W.), and a third-year MFA Candidate (Poetry) at Converse College.