Sierra DeMulder is one of the most accomplished and recognizable young women in the world of slam poetry. The two-time National Poetry Slam champion has spent the past five years energizing audiences at colleges and poetry events across the nation, seamlessly weaving complex issues of identity and gender with the honesty of heartbreak. Her poetry not only proves to be an entertaining journey but inevitably leaves crowds reaching for more.

After getting her start with the Intangible Collective in 2007, she moved to Minnesota to pursue her interest in poetry and slowly freeze to death. She earned “Best Female Poet” at the College Union Poetry Slam Invitational in 2009.  Less than two months later, she was awarded a coveted publishing deal from Write Bloody Publishing, which led to her first full-length book, The Bones Below, published in January 2010.  With Sierra’s help, the St. Paul Poetry Slam Team won the 2009 National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, Florida.  Sierra went on to rank 9th in the world in the Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, California and was a finalist at the 2010 Women of the World Individual Poetry Slam in Columbus, Ohio.  One year later, the St. Paul Poetry Slam Team won the 2010 National Poetry Slam, making Sierra one of the only poets to touch every finals stage in a calendar year. 

Outside of her own competitions, Sierra coached the Macalester College slam team to a CUPSI championship in 2011. She launched her own teaching initiative in which she conducted weekly poetry classes geared towards aspiring poets of all ages in the Twin Cities.  Her second book, New Shoes on a Dead Horse, was published in January 2012 by Write Bloody Publishing. Sierra has featured in hundreds of venues across the country, performing her poetry and facilitating writing workshops in high schools, colleges, homeless shelters, prisons, churches, farmers’ markets, and people’s basements. When not doing poetry, she enjoys playing ukulele, making full use of public transportation, and waxing on about feminism.