Author: LaWanda Dickens

LaWanda Dickens is an English Instructor at Jackson State University, where she teaches composition and rhetoric courses. An advocate for student engagement in campus and community leadership, she served as a member of the steering committee, which made the reconvening of the historic Phillis Wheatley Poetry Festival possible on Nov. 1-4, 2023, at JSU. In support of the event, Dickens co-developed a digital anthology honoring authors who attended the festival. She also directed an art project, featuring the work of Reshonda Perryman from Fayette, Miss. The renowned artist designed a mural on the campus of JSU, commemorating the lives of Dr. Margaret Walker Alexander, the mastermind behind the original event, and the poet, Phillis Wheatley. Dickens wrote the Mississippi Arts Commission grant which funded the project.