Derra is an amazingly talented poet who is writing her doctoral dissertation about Poetic Inquiry and the GuloGulo weekly practice of the Journey of the Poem. Over the past year she has overtly participated with GuloGulo, and has experienced all the many aspects the Collective provides. She may be soft-spoken but her poetry carries a punch!

GuloGulo: Why do you like to write poetry?

Derra: Writing helps me think, to understand life; to know who I am.

GuloGulo: You like to carry around a notebook?

Derra: All the many things I’ve missed started to drive me crazy because I couldn’t replicate it later. It loses its life if I don’t write it down now.

GuloGulo: When did you start writing?

Derra: I remember when I was 8 years old my mom had an electric typewriter. It looked fun and I asked to get paper out to teach me. I wanted to write a story so I started jotting down ideas on the typewriter, and that, I think, was my first poem.

GuloGulo: You are writing your dissertation about poetry?

Derra: When I was teaching high school, I noticed a growing disconnect between me and my students due to the circumstantial systematization and standardization we are forced into. 

GuloGulo: What has been a crazy outdoor adventure?

Derra: My family and kids went to the Cave of the Winds and inside there was a 90 foot hole and ladder we needed to climb down. My kids already went down but I just froze.

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Derra features next!

3rd Tuesday

June 17, 2025

4pm writing workshop

6pm open-mic and feature