Diane Roberts

Professor, University Alumni Distinguished Writer
Visiting Fellow in Creative Writing, University of Northumbria, England


Contact Information

WMS 434

About

Diane Roberts specializes in Southern culture. Her latest book, DREAM STATE: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and other Florida Wildlife, about her politically prominent (and very odd) family has been called "perfect," as well as "hilarious," "wild," "fun," "strange,"and "splendid."

Roberts' previous two books -- Faulkner and Southern Womanhood and The Myth of Aunt Jemima -- are explorations of Southern culture. She is also a journalist, writing op-ed pieces for The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Times of London. She is a political columnist for Tampa Bay Times in Florida and makes documentaries for BBC Radio in London, where she also spends part of the year. She has been a commentator for NPR since 1993 and she writes for the Washington Post. She is a Contributing Editor to Oxford American magazine and a columnist for the Florida Phoenix. She was a consultant for, and is interviewed in, the eleven-episode ESPN documentary series on college football "The American Game" (September-December 2019).

Ph.D., Oxford University
Creative Writing
Literature, Media, and Culture

Creative non-fiction, Southern culture, gender studies, 19th- and 20th-century culture

Books

  • Tribal: College Football and the Secret Heart of America, Harper, 2015.
  • DREAM STATE: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters, Banana Republicans, and other Florida Wildlife, Free Press, 2004.
  • Faulkner and Southern Womanhood, University of Georgia Press, 1993.
  • The Myth of Aunt Jemima, Routledge, 1994.

Selected Essays

Publications

Faculty