Deidra White

Deidra White is a Lexington, Ky. native, a 2024 University of Kentucky MFA graduate, and an aspiring Affrilachian Poet. She currently teaches English and Creative Writing at BCTC and is the 2025 Vice President of the Kentucky State Poetry Society. She received the 2022 Farquhar Award for Poetry for “Meihua,” the Patricia and William Stacy Endowed Fellowship for Distinguished Honors in English, the William Hugh Jansen Fiction Award in the Art of Storytelling/Folklore for “Woodstock,” and is the 2023 winner of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Nonfiction Award for her contemporary piece “DUCK.” She was the Keynote Speaker for the 2024 Lexington Youth Poet Laureate Commencement.

She read her commissioned piece, "Here in Kentucky" at the behest of President Capilouto for six University of Kentucky Commencements at Rupp Arena. She authored and voiced the 2024 University of Kentucky commercial spot, currently running during all UK televised games. Her work engages the tradition of Affrilachian writing and explores the intricate dynamics of Black womanhood with an eye to connections of the past to present.