CEW+ shares Desireé’s belief in the healing power of poetry and names her a Riecker Graduate Student Research Fellow and Elsie Choy Lee Scholar.

Desireé Dallagiacomo is a poet. She is currently pursuing her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program. An enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Desireé is the recipient of the 2025 James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poetry and has received fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, the Harpo Foundation, and the Tin House Writing Workshop, among others. Desireé’s teaching experience spans over 15 years, and she has served as writer-in-residence at numerous high schools, led community organizing initiatives, and facilitated thousands of workshops and learning experiences.

Despite financial barriers, Desireé built a successful career as a writer and teaching artist with community support and infrastructure in non-traditional pathways. Her collection SINK was released by Button Poetry in 2019, and her poetry and creative nonfiction have reached millions globally through both print and performance. Her work has been featured in major publications and has garnered recognition from outlets including The New York Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, and HuffPost.

After the publication of her first book, Desireé realized that she wanted to become a better teacher, community organizer, and writer — so she decided to return to school as a student. With support from the Native American Opportunity Program at the University of California and the Choctaw Nation, Desireé completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2024.

Desireé has been founder and executive director of the Heart of It Writing Retreat and Residencies since 2016. The retreat has served over 150 alumni from 800+ applicants across eight years, with a primary focus on supporting working-class writers of marginalized genders. Currently, she and her team aim to make their programming free for writers in 2026.

CEW+ shares Desireé’s belief in the healing power of poetry and names her a Riecker Graduate Student Research Fellow and Elsie Choy Lee Scholar.