Deanna #mixedmonday
Hi I'm Deanna Rodger (Leo sun/Scorpio rising and moon) a poet, writer, performer and facilitator from London. I now live in Bristol with my furniture making husband (who moved here ages ago from Devon), two brilliant kids and our vigilante cat Batman. I write to shift perspective. A lot of my earlier work was plosive explorations of micro-politics in relation to macro-politics (there's a really good review of my first book 'I Did It Too' on the Young Poets Network which explains my work better than I can). My more recent work is denser (in a great way..). My second collection, 'his fingers have left' is a process and poetry collection writing in response to the Kevin Elyot archive as a part of my residency at the Theatre Collection at Bristol University. I perform a lot of my work and even had Serena WIlliams read one of my poems for International WOmen's Day 2021. Currently I am on a Clore Fellowship and am resident at Pervasive Media Studio where I am developing a Poetic Fortune Telling Machine. I train artists to facilitate their creative practise, design and deliver creative projects, writing a few commissions and am pushing my writing into different mediums theatre, film and telly. Check out my website which is a bit out of date but gives a sense of my work-www.deannarodger.co.uk.
How would you describe your ethnicity?
I’ve always described my self as mixed race. I once slapped a boy in primary school for calling me half caste. My dad’s parents are from Jamaica (he was born in London) and my mum’s parents are from Scotland (she was born in Chester). I was born in London. Middle of three for my mum. One of six for my dad.
Has your mixed-ness influenced your career in any way?
Yeah, definitely. I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t mixed. I would write the world differently if I wasn’t because how we are perceived and responded to moulds our relationship to a space. As a performer I am seen first and then my work is heard. Often times a compliment will reveal the prejudice. My work has also been influenced by various aspects of my identity including ethnicity. I have a poem called Being British which I wrote in a response to the rise of the BNP. Another response I wrote is called ‘Cog’ to Lily Allen’s ‘Hard out here’ video. It went viral and was referenced in her memoir as a catalyst for her learning about intersectional femininity. I have to admit that I believe it has also affected me negatively. Though this is perhaps due to the intersection of social class, gender and race.
If you could describe your mixed identity in one word, what would it be?
What is the best thing about being mixed heritage?
The triumph of a love which (for however long) transcended racial, cultural and ethnic barriers.
