Diana Parsell

Diana Parsell is a writer, editor and former journalist, and the author of Eliza Scidmore: The Trailblazing Journalist Behind Washington’s Cherry Trees (Oxford University Press, 2023). The book was a finalist for SMA’s 2024 Bernard J. Brommel Award for Biography & Memoir. Born and raised in Ohio, Diana has spent most of her career in the Washington, D.C., area, working for publications that include National Geographic and The Washington Post. She has also been a science writer for organizations in Washington and Southeast Asia.

Long active in the local literary community, Diana has led writing and editing workshops, and helped launch the online Washington Independent Review of Books in 2011. In an outgrowth of the research for her recent book, she shares her love of the Library of Congress with the public as a volunteer docent.