Lisa DeSiro is both a writer and a musician. Born in Syracuse, NY, she has lived in the Greater Boston area since 1993.

Her collections of poetry include: Simple as a Sonnet (Kelsay Books, 2021), Labor (Nixes Mate Books, 2018), and Grief Dreams (White Knuckle Press, 2017). Individual poems of hers are featured in Writers Resist: The Anthology, Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse, and Thirty Days: The Best of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project’s First Year; as well as in numerous journals, such as: Aethlon, The Avenue, Artemis Journal, Blood & Bourbon, Cliterature, Commonthought Magazine, Cordella Magazine, Friends Journal, The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, The Healing Muse, Independent Noise Literary Magazine, Indolent Books (What Rough Beast), Jam Tarts Magazine, Lily Poetry Review, Mezzo Cammin, Mom Egg Review, The Ocean State Review, The Orchards Poetry Journal, Ovunque Siamo, Right Hand Pointing (One Sentence Poems), Nixes Mate Review, Plath Poetry Project, Pre-existing Poems, Prodigal’s Chair, Rat’s Ass Review (Such an Ugly Time), Rattle (Poets Respond), The Road Not Taken, Salamander, Shooter Literary Magazine, Sixfold, The Writers’ Cafe, and Writers Resist. Her poem “Motherly Advice” was nominated for a 2019 Pushcart Prize, and her poem “In Lieu of Flowers” was a winner in the City of Cambridge 2017 Sidewalk Poetry Contest.

Lisa frequently collaborates with composers, providing texts to be set for singing, and is a core collaborator of the repertory group CMASH. Poems of hers can be heard in musical settings on the albums Currents and Living in Light. Heather Gilligan’s setting of Lisa’s poem “I’m a Girl. What’s your superpower?” won second prize at the 2019 songSLAM NYC competition.

Lisa has been active as a professional pianist for thirty years, performing throughout New England and in Europe. Her specialty is accompanying for art song, opera, musical theater, and dance. From 2018–2020 she hosted the Solidarity Salon, an inclusive performance series that featured several literary, musical, visual, theater, and movement artists in support of social justice. Lisa is currently an accompanist at Boston Conservatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Longy School of Music, and José Mateo Ballet Theatre. She also freelances as a vocal coach and editor/proofreader. Previously she was employed full-time as Production & Editorial Assistant with C.P.E. Bach: The Complete Works, where she did copy editing and layout for more than 100 books.

Lisa earned degrees at Lesley University (MFA in Creative Writing), Longy School of Music (MM in Collaborative Piano), The Boston Conservatory (BM in Piano Performance/Accompanying), and Binghamton University (BA in Literature and Creative Writing). To read more about her skills and experience, visit her LinkedIn profile.