Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Desirée emigrated to Wellington, New Zealand in 1985 with her husband and three daughters. Desirée has an MA in Creative Writing (International Institute of Modern Letters), and an MA in Literary Translation Studies (VUW). She writes for theatre and film, and has published a bilingual book of poetry, 'Next Time Around / la próxima vez’ (Steele Roberts, 2007) which deals with the subject of immigration and separation from loved ones. Her poetry piece Under the Southern Stars was recorded and broadcast by Radio NZ. A number of her poems have been set to music by award winning NZ composers Gareth Farr and Dorothy Buchanan. She has translated poetry, theatre and fiction from English to Spanish and Spanish to English, including the English translation of the book Náhuatl Stories: Indigenous tales from Mexico by Pablo Gonzáles Casanova (pub VUP, 2012), through the Mexican Embassy in NZ.
Desirée's play Nuclear Family won the Best Stageplay Award (Script) at the 2011 Moondance International Film Festival Competition (USA) and received 5-star reviews in Adelaide (AU), London (UK), Edinburgh (IE), Auckland and Wellington (NZ) and was selected for a dramatic reading at the 2018 Women Playwrights International Conference in Chile.
Desirée’s play, Caging Skies, based on the novel by Christine Leunens, had its world premiere at Wellington’s Circa Theatre and has been translated into Spanish and French.