TJ Dema is an honorary fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program, former chairperson of the Writers Association of Botswana and now runs ‘Sauti A&PM’, Botswana’s leading arts administration organization. Having been a practicing spoken word poet as well as a participant in Lancaster University’s ‘Crossing Borders’ program, TJ was commissioned to mentor of female team for the British Council’s ‘Power in the voice’ initiative. She is a ‘St. Louis Top 40 under 40 catalyst’, recipient of a Vermont Studio Centre fellowship and a Lancaster University MA scholarship. In 2014 she was resident in Copenhagen as a Danish International Visiting Artist. Dema has traveled the world reading poetry and running literary workshops in countries including Germany, India, Singapore, Croatia, the USA, France, the UK and around southern Africa. Her chapbook Mandible was published by Slapering Hol Press in association with the African Poetry Book Fund, Prairie Schooner and the Poetry Foundation.
