Seodial Frank H. Deena is Associate Professor in the Department of English in the Harriot College of Arts and Sciences at East Carolina University where he co-coordinates the Multicultural Literature Program and teaches multicultural, world, postcolonial, African American, and Caribbean literature, as well as the Bible as literature. He received his Ph.D. in Literature and Criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree from the University of Guyana. He has published widely in professional journals such as College Language Association Journal, UFAHAMU: Journal of the African Activist Association, Commonwealth Novel in English, Commonwealth Review, Indo-American Review, Afro-American Literature, The Literary GRIOT, and Journal of Caribbean Studies; and has chapters in Postcolonial Discourse (Prestige 1996), Literature of Nature (Fitzroy Dearborn 1998), Alice Walker’s The Color Purple: A Reader’s Companion (Asia Book Club 2002), Latitude 63° North (Mid-Sweden University College 2002), and TerranglianTerritories (Peter Lang 2000). His book, Canonization, Colonization, Decolonization: A Comparative Study of Political and Critical Works By Minority Writers, was published by Peter Lang Publishing INC. in 2001. From Around the Globe: Secular Authors and Biblical Perspectives and Situating Caribbean Literature and Criticism in Multicultural and Postcolonial Studies are forthcoming in 2005.

Born on Leguan Island, Essequibo River, Guyana, South America, Dr. Deena has traveled to more than 50 countries, and he brings an international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary approach to his research, teaching, and service.

Dr. Deena serves as MLA Bibliographer for six postcolonial journals, and he is on the editorial boards of Indo-American Review, The Commonwealth Review, Journal of Caribbean Studies, and A Turbulent Voyage. He reads for Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies and Literature Interpretation Theory, and is the 1st Vice President of the Association of Caribbean Studies.