Diane Simmons
Diane Simmons, a native of the mountain West, is the author of numerous works of award-winning fiction ,
non-fiction, journalism and criticism.
A former newspaper and magazine reporter in Idaho, Washington and Alaska, she holds a BA in history, an MA in Creative Writing, and an Ph.D. in English literature. She is a Professor of English at City University of New York, and recently served as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in the Czech Republic.
At present most interested in:
-essay in progress, "An Old Portrait in a Dark Closet," on discovering secrets of her family's history of slaveholding in South Georgia,
-short memoir, "The Big Time," up now on the lovely, online literary non-fiction magazine Hippocampus.
- essay on Czech dissident Vaclav Havel – “Principles You’re Making a Killing on Them!”--runner-up travel-writing contest and published In NOWHERE magazine. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Translated into Czech and published in Czech literary Magazine, HOST.
-essay on the legacy of communism in the Czech Republic: "Nobody Goes to the Gulag Any More" --
published in Missouri Review - excerpted in LitHub.
-novel-in-progress, based on a true story set in the Far West, 1930s, about three desperate young people who hope to get rich by emulating the Lindbergh kidnapping.
-political and climate activism in Maplewood, NJ with Maplewood Dems, Activate America, and other progressive groups. Most important work at this writing: fighting attempts at voter suppression. Also: the effort to stop new fossil fuel projects in the state.
-Chair Non-Fiction Award Committee – PEN American Center Prison Writing Committee
-hiking. . . as always.