
Welcome to Episode 24 of Arts Roll Call–a podcast for the arts curious. In this episode, host Robin Miner-Swartz talks with author, Dedria Humphries Barker.
Meet Dedira
Dedria Humphries Barker is a literary and visual artist and an educator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in English from Wayne State University in Detroit, and she taught writing and literature at Lansing Community College and Michigan State University School of Journalism.
She is the author of “Mother of Orphans: The True and Curious Story of Irish Alice, a Colored Man’s Widow” (New York: 2leaf Press, 2020), and the creator of “Blue People,” her visual arts series on mass incarceration.
Dedria’s work has appeared in national, regional and local literary and visual art markets including “PloughsharesBlog,” “Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature” and the anthologies, “The Beiging of America: Personal Narratives of Mixed-Race Americans,” and “Black Lives Have Always Mattered.”
She has also published in markets such as “The Black Collegian,” “The New Physician,” “Redbook,” and “Good Housekeeping” magazines, the “Journal of the National Technical Association,” “Salon.com,” “LiteraryMama.com,” “The Detroit News,” and many others. A nearly 16-year resident of Lansing, Michigan, Dedria’s column on education is published in the City Pulse newspaper. She also was a 2024 candidate for Lansing City Charter Commission.
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