Denise Blake (McGill) was born in Lakewood Ohio in 1958 and returned to Ireland with her parents and family to live in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal in 1969.

Her first collection of poetry, Take a Deep Breath, was published by Summer Palace Press. Her second collection, How to Spin Without getting Dizzy, was published in Spring 2010. She is a regular contributor to Sunday Miscellany RTE radio 1 and her work is in five Sunday Miscellany anthologies. She read as part of PoetryIreland Introductions series, Out to Lunch readings and took part in the Clé Author and Publisher library tour. Her work has been published inThe SHOp,  Poetry Ireland Review , The Stinging Fly and West 47. She is a founder of the Errigal Writers’ Group and received an MA in poetry from Lancaster University through the Poets’ House. She has wide experience of giving creative writing workshops in national and secondary schools in Donegal as well as working with adult groups.