Linda is a British-Barbadian poet, essayist, editor and publisher. She is also a creative writing tutor and mentor a.k.a "The Summer Storyteller".
She is a graduate of the University of Warwick’s Comparative American Studies programme (B.A. Hons., 1993), and has over 30 years’ experience as a journalist in Barbados and the UK.
She is a co-founding director of ArtsEtc Inc., and its NGO The ArtsEtc International Literacy, Culture & Environment Foundation (AILCEF).
ON PAGE
Solo
- Path to a Heritage Strategy for Barbados: An Independent Report for the Barbados National Commission for UNESCO (2003).
As co-editor with Robert Edison Sandiford
- Shouts from the Outfield: The ArtsEtc Cricket Anthology, (AE Books, 2007)
- Green Readings, Barbados: The First Five Years (AE Books, 2012),
- The ArtsEtc 2011/12 NIFCA Winning Words Anthology (Foundation Press, 2013)
- The ArtsEtc 2013/14 NIFCA Winning Words Anthology (Foundation Press, 2015)
- The ArtsEtc 2015/16 NIFCA Winning Words Anthology (Foundation Press, 2017)
- Kamau 85, online tribute to Kamau Brathwaite on his 85th birthday (ArtsEtc, May 2015)
In anthologies and journals
- ArtsEtc (Premier Guide & online editions; 2003 to present)
- Poui: The Cave Hill Literary Annual, No. 6 (2004)
- The Caribbean Writer Vol. 21 (2007)
- Bim: Arts for the 21st Century (Vol 1, Nov 2007; Vol 4 - No. 2, 2011; Vol 5, 2012; Vol 6, May 2013-14; Vol 8, 2016)
- Writers Ink: Bazaar Vol. One (2009)
- The Understanding Between Foxes and Light (great weather for MEDIA, 2013)
- Give the Ball to the Poet: A New Anthology of Caribbean Poetry (Commonwealth Education Trust, July 2014)
- Kamau 85: online tribute to Kamau Brathwaite on the occasion of his 85th birthday (ArtsEtc, May 2015)
- Moko: Caribbean Arts & Letters (Nov/Dec 2015) – Firing The Canon special issue
- Cordite Poetry Review – 81: New Caribbean (May 2017) – "Beyond The River Road"
Awards
- 2005: Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Award (first prize) and Prime Minister’s Award for the poetry collection Cutting Road Blues: A Narrative (in press).
- 2016: Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Award (second prize) and Prime Minister’s Award for the poetry collection Bridgetown.
- 2017: Governor General's Award for Literary Excellence at the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts for the essay "A Way Back: Phyllis, Freddy, Dexter & Wow!"
OFF PAGE
- Founding director of The Barbados Copyright Agency (B-COPY)
- Founder member and a director of the literary group Writers Ink, organiser of the Bim Literary Festival (Bim LitFest)
- Main coordinator of Bim LitFest Children’s Fair (2012, 2014, 2016)
- Co-producer/presenter of the Writers Ink radio show What's That You're Reading? on CBC Q100.7 FM
- Creator & coordinator of the ArtsEtc schools literacy outreach programme Read2Me!
- Storyteller and creative writing tutor in schools, camps and communities, and founder of the Summer Storyteller series
- Represented Barbados in the Literary Arts at the Eden Mills Writers Festival in Ontario (2004)
- Represented Barbados at CARIFESTA XI (Suriname, 2013); CARIFESTA XIII (Barbados, 2017).
- Served as judge and chief judge in the National Cultural Foundation's (NCF) National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) Literary Arts competition.
- NCF Writers In School and Education (W.I.S.E) tutor and teacher trainer
PODCASTS, INTERVIEWS & PERFORMANCE
An interview from 2013 with New York-based literary journal great weather for MEDIA
- https://www.greatweatherformedia.com/greatweatherformediacom/captivated-by-this-way-of-being-an-interview-with-linda-m-deane
The Summer Storyteller in a fun, informal conversation with “Joy Within” blogger, musician and podcaster Indra Denys
-https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/journey-of-a-writer-interview-with...
Linda at The Roundhouse open mic in Bathsheba, Barbados, following an 'image picking" exercise with her writing group We Write Here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_UHrj83U7Q
