Degna Stone

• To clarify to what extent arts expressions of Britain’s African, Asian and Caribbean diaspora artists are marginalised in heritage narratives.

• To understand the work that those artists and organisations create and what role, if any, it has in overcoming the “fear that something will be taken away from heritage on the inside if there is more equality … and compromise heritage as … a resource for anchoring national identity” (Naidoo, 2016).

• To clarify and widen definitions that marginalise artists from the African, Asian and Caribbean diasporas, through an exploration of how an accurate and truthful use of language can help us to understand heritage in the context of the complex legacies of imperialism/colonialism.  

Degna Stone is a poet and editor living in north east England, and is currently undertaking a PhD in Cultural Studies at Northumbria University.

She has worked with Apples and Snakes, English PEN, The Poetry School and New Writing North to deliver creative writing workshops and courses for adults and young people. She is an associate artist with D6: Culture in Transit, Renaissance One and The Poetry Exchange. She worked for 12 years in the literary department at Live Theatre, Newcastle, and was an Enabler for Eclipse Theatre's ambitious artist development programme, Slate: Black · Arts · World. Since going freelance in 2017 she has collaborated with musicians, theatre directors, musuems and choreographers to create multi-disciplinary work.

She is a contributing editor at The Rialto, and a co-founder and former managing editor of Butcher’s Dog poetry magazine. She is a fellow of The Complete Works III and Obsidian Foundation, holds an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University and received a Northern Writers' Award for poetry in 2015.

She is a trustee on the board of New Writing North and a critical friend to the Curious Arts board of trustees.