About Debra Lynn Prazak

Debra Lynn Prazak grew up in a small town in North Dakota. She has an undergraduate degree in education from the University of North Dakota and a Master of Liberal Studies degree from Hamline University in creative writing. Her poems have appeared in The North Dakota Quarterly. For numerous years, she has been under mentorship with Deborah Keenan, poet and visual artist.

In her various careers, she’s been an elementary school teacher, data/business analyst, project manager, independent tech consultant, resort head gardener, gardening business owner, and is currently Executive Director of the nonprofit Brainerd Lakes Safe Ride, which she founded. Through these transitions, she has been a student of writing.

She is a needlework artist, upcycles clothing, gardener and amateur photographer living in Brainerd, Minnesota with her three dogs.

“I write poetry for the same reason I read it, both as a way of being alive and as a way of trying to understand what it means — how it feels to be alive.” Carl Phillips