Tia DeShay

Tia DeShay, a Detroit Native, graduated from Cass Technical High School and earned her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education with a major in English Literature and a minor in History from Eastern Michigan University. She later obtained her Masters degree and Educational Specialist Certificate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from Wayne State University. For 10 years, Tia DeShay taught high school Literature, Journalism and Yearbook for the Detroit Public Schools.

In November 2010, Tia DeShay resigned from the Detroit Public Schools and decided that her gift of writing was worth more than an occasional one night stand. She was willing to commit and marry the man of her dreams: poetry. She went on to self publish her first book: If I Only Had Five Minutes. The Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet in March 2011.

“Poetry is a way of making sense of me and the space that I occupy. For me, poetry is a life style. Poetry is a way to tell the story of people who are disenfranchised and whose voice has been immobilized and censored by hopeless circumstances and failed relationships.

My poetry is a complete thought in a world of fragments. My poetry is the voice of those we choose to ignore because we are so consumed with ‘us’ instead of ‘we.’ In my poetry, my readers see themselves raw and unashamed. In my poetry, I Write Now so others can remember later.”

If I Only Had Five Minutes. The Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet is available on Kindle, Nook, amazon.com, authorhouse.com and barnesandnoble.com. It is also available in the UK, Japan, India and Australia.

To schedule performances, interviews, speaking engagements, and book signings, contact Lynn Shaw of Red V Events at [email protected].

Social Networking and Web:

Scribd.com/TiaDeShay

Facebook.com/TiaDeShay

Twitter.com/TiaDeShay

www.tiadeshay.com

[email protected]