Donna Denizé is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and award-winning teacher at St. Albans School in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

who is Chairwoman of the English Department. She has contributed widely to journals and magazines with essays and poetry, written books of collections of poetry, participated in development of professional training programs for teachers as well as programs for students of multiple public schools. Some of her work has appeared in anthologies and magazines and she has contributed to some

Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...

print and video media. Denizé also acted in the movie "Locked Up: A Mother's Rage".

Background

Denizé is an American of

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an descent,Donna Denize's Bio
and a native of

Cape Cod, Massachusetts Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

. Denizé has lived in the Washington D.C. area since 1978. Denizé holds an undergraduate degree from

Stonehill College Stonehill College is a private Catholic college in Easton, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on the original estate of Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr., with 29 buildings that compl ...

, where she was a student of Poet Laureate

Robert Hayden Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913February 25, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-Americ ...

, and an M.A. from

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

in Renaissance Drama. She has received grants from the

Bread Loaf School of English Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. In the fall of 2024, the college enrolled 2, ...

(using the accommodation of Lincoln College at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained for mos ...

Summer Writing Program, the Humanities Council of Washington, DC, and the

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...

. In 1981 she participated in the World Order Magazine Commemorative Issue to

Appointments, honors, invited contributions

In 1980 she served through appointment by Governor Charles Robb to The Virginia State Advisory Board on Vocational Education. In 2003, she was awarded by

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

the ''George Olmsted, Jr., Class of 1924 Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching'', and in 2004, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of

American Shakespeare Center The American Shakespeare Center (ASC) is a Regional theater in the United States, regional theatre company located in Staunton, Virginia, Staunton, Virginia, that focuses on the plays of William Shakespeare; his contemporaries Ben Jonson, Beaumo ...

, a national destination and resource for audiences, actors, students, scholars, and educators, based at the Blackfriars Playhouse in

Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...

. She currently teaches literature at St. Albans School, where she teaches Shakespeare, American literature, and freshman English, serves as chair of the Faculty Diversity Committee and faculty advisor of the school's literary magazine and during the summer teaches in the

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Wa ...

's summer program called

Cathedral Scholars A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, an outreach program of academic enrichment which serves students from 15 different D.C. public schools. She is a recipient of the

Distinguished Teacher Award In law, to distinguish a Legal case, case means a court decides the Holding (law), holding or legal reasoning of a precedent case that will not apply due to Materiality (law), materially different facts between the two cases. Two formal constraint ...

from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Presidential Scholars Program The United States Presidential Scholars Program is a program of the United States Department of Education. It is described as "one of the nation's highest honors for high school students" in the United States of America. The program was establ ...

.Donna Denizé and Lesson Plan for Great Expectations
for the Ninth grade. Denizé has been invited/appointed to numerous workshops, panel discussions, readings and other responsibilities at: * EDP Literature Institute *

* Corcoran Museum of Art *

The Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

WPFW WPFW (89.3 FM) is a public radio and jazz music community radio station, serving the Washington metropolitan area. It is owned by the Pacifica Foundation, wit studios located on K Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The station's slogan is "Jazz and J ...

''The Poet and The Poem'', hosted by Grace Cavalieri * Martin Luther King, Jr. Library *One of eight invited teacher's for Annenberg/CPB Channel's eight part mini-series, In Search of the Novel doing a

lesson plan A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction or "learning trajectory" for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teac ...

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

. *Denizé is also the Baháʼí

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

for

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, a position she has held since at least 2008.

Poetry and publications

Denizé's poetry has appeared in the book ''Hungry As We Are''. Denizé published a selection of poems titled ''The Lover's Voice'' in 1997 (Hickory House Press) and ''Broken Like Job'' in 2005 (The

Word Works The Word Works is a literary organization based in Washington, DC. Founded in 1974, it has published works by Frannie Lindsay, Fred Marchant, Jay Rogoff, Grace Cavalieri, Donna Denizé, Christopher Bursk, and Enid Shomer and is a member of th ...

). She has also been a contributor to scholarly books and journals, including Shakespeare Set Free (), Innisfree Journal of Poetry,

Gargoyle Magazine ''Gargoyle Magazine'' is a literary magazine based in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1976 by Russell Cox, Richard Peabody, and Paul Pasquarella. By 1977, Peabody was the only remaining original editor. He continued running the magazine ...

's ''Gargoyle 49'' CD,The Montserrat Review - Gargoyle #49
Produced by Richard Peabody, postproduction/sound by Zenon Slawinsky and '' Orison''. She has published essays like 'Use of Color in Selected Shakespearean Works' in

and 'A Scholar's Journey: Reflections on W.E.B. DuBois and the Power of Education' in ''Teacher's Digest'', an educational magazine from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Denizé has also contributed to programs of

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discip ...

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, Mobil

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these ...

, the

Annenberg Foundation The Annenberg Foundation is a foundation that provides funding and support to non-profit organizations. Overview The Annenberg Foundation was established by Walter H. Annenberg in 1989 with $1.2 billion, one-third of the assets from the sale o ...

, and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

References

External links

Official Website
Education should be a provocative, engaging, experience.
St. Alban's School Official WebsiteBread Loaf School of EnglishInnisfree Journal of Poetry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denize, Donna American Bahá'ís American University staff Howard University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Bahá'í poets American people of Haitian descent 20th-century Bahá'ís 21st-century Bahá'ís