Marlanda Dekine is the author of Thresh & Hold, winner of the New Southern Voices Poetry Prize from Hub City Press. She is also the author and recording artist of I am from a punch & a kiss. Dekine currently serves as the first Poet Laureate of Georgetown County Libraries and is a fellow of the Obsidian Foundation UK.

Her poems have been commissioned by contemporary music ensembles, including Juventas Ensemble, Castle of Our Skins, counter)induction, and FUSE Collaborations in Song. A dynamic performer, she is a Grand Slam Champion of the Soul Sista Poetry Slam and a Queen of the South Slam Champion.

Her honors include a South Carolina Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in Spoken Word and Slam Poetry, a Fresh Voice of the Year Award from SC Humanities, and a Tin House Scholarship. Dekine’s poetry has appeared in Salvation South, Poetry, Callaloo, Oxford American, and elsewhere. Her work is anthologized in Coast Lines, This Is the Honey, What Things Cost, and Ecological Solidarities.

Dekine is the founder of Speaking Down Barriers, a nonprofit committed to equity and justice, and Dekine Cultural Strategies, a consulting practice collaborating with communities and organizations through creativity, dialogue, and cultural work.