Piedmont Region Chapter Leader
Deonna Kelli Sayed is a writer-performer based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Deonna’s essays and short stories are included in Love, Inshallah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women; Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay; and Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction From a Small Planet, Volume III. She is the author of Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks & Spirits, and a TEDx speaker.
Her personal essays appear online, including at The Dirty Spoon, and Jennifer Pastiloff’s The Manifest-Station. Deonna is an award-winning multimedia journalist for her podcast series at Yes!Weekly, an independent newspaper, featuring LGBTQ issues in North Carolina.
Originally from rural North Florida, Deonna is a globally connected storyteller engaged in interfaith work modeled on dialogue across difference. She is the Membership Coordinator for the North Carolina Writers’ Network, and Festival Coordinator for Greensboro Bound, 2018-2019. She is active in her local arts community, and served as staff for the 2019 North Carolina Folk Festival. Learn more about Deonna here, and keep up with her and local PEN America events on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
PEN America in Piedmont Region
Recent Events
PEN Write Now presents “Your South, Our South,” a community event exploring 'the South” through the experiences of emerging writers of color.
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In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, states across the country have restricted access to abortion and, often, to speech and information…
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Calling writers, musicians, actors of all ages -- and anyone with a creative bone. Prompt Party is an evening of collaborative fun.
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The Black Voices Mixer, the first event of PEN Write Now, is a community conversation on the changing landscape of the NC literary and arts communities.
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PEN Piedmont will host a “social cocktail hour" for free speech advocates to react to regarding the recent wave of book bans.
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PEN America Piedmont is proud to welcome Linda Villarosa to Greensboro, North Carolina for a conversation on her new book Under the Skin.
More InformationPEN America Piedmont is proud to welcome Linda Villarosa to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for a conversation on her new book Under the Skin.
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Join us for a Celebration of Banned Books in Raleigh, North Carolina, an event dedicated to protecting students’ freedom to access literature and history.
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Join PEN America for a full day of activities to celebrate open access to books in our schools, libraries, and communities.
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A conversation among Black academics that unpacks the current challenges to freedom of expression in schools, colleges, and the public sphere in regards to racism, history, and diversity.
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The PEN America Piedmont Region Chapter welcomes Members and others to an in-person open house/prompt party on September 2 at Scuppernong Books.
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Join the PEN America Piedmont Region chapter and North Carolina Humanities for a panel examining the theme of journalism in our 2020-2021 Statewide Read books.
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In partnership with The Ink Project, PEN America Piedmont Region is hosting Dear 2020, a virtual spoken word and poetry performance collection.
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PEN America will hold a virtual reading of “Stories of Endangered Language Activism,” highlighting the urgency of safeguarding America’s endangered Native American languages.
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“Black Voices, Vibrant Southern Cities” will explore the importance of Black cultural creatives to the cultural and civic life of cities in the South.
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The Greensboro Public Library and PEN America present a free news and media literacy training, “Knowing the News.”
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Come toast the new year with musical guest Quilla, a photo booth, and a curated story slam featuring personalities from the North Carolina writing and arts community.
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In this conversation, we’ll explore the language of hate vs. the language of dissent, who decides who is allowed to speak and how, and the responsibility of the media…
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Health, Housing, and Hurricane Recovery in Robeson county will focus on the future of the county and how the media covers it. Join us to talk about hurricane recovery…
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A conversation about the media ecosystem in North Carolina and exploring the relationship between local news, community, and class.
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In this discussion, PEN America has collaborated with Scuppernong Books and Greensboro Bound to bring a conversation among poets, nonfiction, and fiction writers about responding to the current cultural…
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'Member When?! is a two-part interactive event centered around storytelling, collective memory sharing, and getting together with the original hometown crew—that includes Durham's griots, the O.G.'s, the community elders,…
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In this discussion, PEN America has collaborated with Scuppernong Books and Greensboro Bound to bring the co-founder and publisher of Melville House, Dennis Johnson, for a keynote event.
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In this discussion, PEN America has collaborated with Scuppernong Books and Greensboro Bound to bring three North Carolina based journalists talk about the challenges of freelance and regional reporting…
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For Banned Books Week 2019, join Scuppernong Books on Tuesday, September 24 in Greensboro to celebrate banned and challenged books from around the world.
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PEN America has collaborated with Scuppernong Books and Greensboro Bound to bring these journalists together to discuss their work in local media.
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Robert Gipe, Valerie Nieman, and Carter Sickels join journalist and writer Dana Coester to discuss the importance of place in writing about Appalachia.
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Authors Carter Sickels, Mesha Maren, and Michael Croley come together to talk about the changing faces of Appalachian literature.
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Contributors to the new book, Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy discuss the misconceptions and assumptions about Appalachia.
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Wiley Cash and Catherine Venable Brown will talk about the history of social activism in Appalachia and the way that history informs the present.
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This event will be a televised conversation and community forum to discuss some of the most pressing issues in Columbus County, North Carolina.
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Media has played a powerful role in advancing transgender justice and equity. However, what can media makers and journalists do more of to build anti-oppression values into their work?…
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