Finding Forward

"Language was my first love," says Dessa, and her work as a musician, writer, and speaker is studded with memorable turns of phrase. Her style is also defined by empathetic curiosity--an interest in finding unlikely connections between seemingly disparate people and ideas. Over the course of her career, she’s partnered with neuroscientists, shadow puppeteers, a dentist, a traveling circus, and musicians of all stripes: subway bucket drummers, flamenco palmas, a Chinese pipa master, and a Zimbabwean mbira player. Her work on stage and on the page is often funny, usually clever, and sometimes melancholy: poignancy tempered by wry wit delivered in a cocktail dress paired with combat boots.

Dessa’s musical career began in earnest when she was asked to join Minneapolis’ Doomtree collective, the hip-hop crew known for bold production, charismatic lyricists, and explosive live shows. She started touring hard as a solo act after her 2010 release A Badly Broken Code. Since then, she’s worked across sounds and styles; her albums include rap bangers; a cappella arrangements; and big, catchy pop hooks. On the invitation of Lin-Manuel Miranda, she contributed a track to gold record The Hamilton Mixtape. She’s also co-composed work for full choirs and cut a live album with the GRAMMY-winning Minnesota Orchestra.

Dessa grew up in the 80s in South Minneapolis as a strong-willed, cerebral, sometimes troubled kid. Both parents were musical—her father played classical guitar and the medieval lute; her mom came up in the Bronx in an apartment where someone (or everyone) was constantly singing. In school, Dessa was studious, with special interest in biological science and creative writing. After earning a philosophy degree, she began competing on the slam poetry circuit where she connected with members of the local hip hop scene. Her songs are the product of this nonconventional trajectory: she remains part academic and part hip hop artist, with moments of playful braggadocio offset by flashes of arresting candor.

Between tours, and sometimes backstage, Dessa continued to write poems, essays, and short stories. Her written work has been published in the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, and in literary journals around the country. She’s released three short literary collections, most recently Tits on the Moon, a collection of stage poems published by Rain Taxi and Doomtree Press. Her short fiction has been published in The Iowa Review and her first audio play was produced by 45North in London. In 2018, Dutton Books (Penguin Random House) published Dessa’s memoir, My Own Devices, which tells the story of her life, career, and an ambitious plan to fall out of love. She delivered a TED Talk in Hong Kong titled “Can We Choose to Fall out Love?” that has notched more than 4 million views. Across formats, Dessa’s work embodies ferocity, intelligence, and tenderness. NPR’s All Songs Considered hailed her as a “a national treasure.” The LA Times says simply she “sounds like no one else.” You can listen to her music—including her 2023 full-length album Bury the Lede—read her writing, and check out the tour schedule at dessawander.com or find her on Instagram as Dessa, and on Facebook and Twitter as dessadarling.

Dr. Liz Wilkinson is the Director for the Luann Dummer Center for Women. She teaches courses in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Native American Literatures; Critical Ecofeminism; and Sports Literature. Her current areas of research are critical ecofeminist pedagogy, humor as decolonization in the poetry of Heid Erdrich, and the intersection of women's sport and suffrage. Her latest publication, written with four graduate student alumni, was published this past spring in the journal Gender and Education.