Di Nardo makes the invisible palpable and the visible insurgent. Between lyric and critique, classroom and community,
her voice ignites poetry’s power to restore, revoke, reimagine. For the poet, poetry is not art alone—it is force, it
is fuel, it is fire.
Desi Di Nardo is a poet, professor, children’s author, and interdisciplinary scholar whose work lives at the intersection of language, healing, and transformation. Warm yet exacting, her voice draws readers into both wonder and workshop. She channels the poetic into praxis—bridging academia and community, mentoring emerging voices, and cultivating creativity as a force for connection and change. Her poetry circulates through journals and public spaces—from Starbucks and the TTC to the National Arts Centre and Canada’s Official Residences—and resonates in classrooms across India, Iran, and Italy. Within Canadian universities, she threads poetic inquiry through curriculum and conversation, shaping scholarship with artistry and resonance.
A devoted advocate against intimate partner violence, Di Nardo transforms adversity into agency. She illuminates the path from fracture to fortitude through trauma‑informed work with Habitat For Women, CAMH, SickKids, and the June Callwood Centre—turning ache into alchemy, grief into grit, and pain into poetry.
She is the founder and host of Poetry Parade, a national mentorship initiative convening Canada’s foremost poets—including Parliamentary and Toronto Poet Laureates. Through this platform, she cultivates literary excellence and belonging among student writers. Her collaboration with Desjardins, as both writer and on‑screen talent, engaged more than a million viewers across Canada and beyond, affirming the art form’s global reach and cultural relevance in public discourse.
A long‑distance runner, Taekwondo black belt, and animal devotee, Di Nardo brings discipline, compassion, and intellectual vitality to the classrooms, communities, and pages she touches.
