Bio
Photo by Suz Redfearn
Diana Parsell is a writer, editor and former journalist, and a 45-year resident of the Washington, D.C., area. During her career she worked for a range of publications, including National Geographic and The Washington Post, and for several major science organizations in Washington and Southeast Asia. Her reporting on education, science, medical research, history and cultural topics has appeared in many print and online outlets.
Living and working in Indonesia led to her first book, through an 1897 travelogue on Java. Diana’s biography of its little-known author, Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees, was published in 2023 by Oxford University Press. The Society of Midland Authors named the book a finalist for its 2024 Bernard J. Brommel Award for Biography & Memoir.
Diana has long been active in the local literary community, as both an instructor and a continuing student of the craft of nonfiction writing. In 2011 she helped launch the online Washington Independent Review of Books. In an outgrowth of her book research, she shares her love of the Library of Congress with the public as a volunteer docent.
Her honors include fellowships from Rotary International and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing; a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts; and a Mayborn Fellowship in Biography and the 2017 Hazel Rowley Prize from Biographers International (BIO).
She lives with her husband in Falls Church, Va.
See a sample of Diana’s articles and other writing.
Read an Author Q&A with Diana about her new book
(for Oxford University Press, use code AAFLYG6 for 30% discount)