Deanna Anthony
Author: Tamela J. Gordon
Publisher: Row House
Runtime: 8h 52m
“It was exceptional.” Deanna Anthony takes us on a journey through Hood Wellness, a decommodified look at what it truly takes to take care of ourselves and each other. With a “lively and moving” narrative voice, shifting between confessional-style recollections to historical retellings, Deanna offers an incredible example of how Narrators of Distinction navigate non-fiction texts with verve and variety.
Judges described how Deanna shifted between “a deeply personal chat with an open and vulnerable friend” to “a lively documentary” as the stories progress and call on both uplifting and challenging content. Who else but an experienced actor could “move easily between conversational, somber and academic in her pacing?” Deanna lays it all out for the listener as she shows us what it means to be a narrator who stands ten toes down in her performances.
As the author speaks to people of different backgrounds, Deanna brings “the right balance of representation” and never gets in the way of “letting the words speak” while still delivering a powerful performance. “The spirit of the author and the text really came through in the performance and engaged me.”
