Diane McKinney-Whetstone (born August 14, 1953) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and is a member of the University of Pennsylvania Creative Writing program faculty. Her works of fiction have won numerous awards, including the BCALA Literary Award for Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Inc. in 2005 and 2009.

Biography

McKinney-Whetstone is

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. She is the second of five daughters born to Pennsylvania State Senator Paul McKinney and his wife Bessie, with an older sister from her father's previous relationship, and also an older brother and sister from her mother’s first marriage. Diane received a BA in English from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 1975. She is married to Greg Whetstone and they have twins, Taiwo, a daughter and Kehinde, a son. McKinney-Whetstone began writing when she was 39, joining th
Rittenhouse Writer's Group
founded by University of Pennsylvania instructor James Rahn. She won a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant for a 500-page first draft. Her first novel, ''Tumbling'', was published in 1996 by

William Morrow and Company William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation News Corporation (abbrev ...

. She is mentioned in: * '' Booklist'', April 15, 1996, February 15, 1998, February 15, 2000. * Book Quarterly, April 4–11, 1996. * ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on Februa ...

'', June 1, 1996. * '' Essence'', July 1996 November 1999, August 2000. * ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', March 15, 1996. * ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'', June 15, 1996, March 1, 1998, October 1, 1999, November 1, 1999. * Penn Arts & Sciences, fall 1996. * '' The Pennsylvania Gazette'', May 1998. * ''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'', May 27, 1996. * ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'', October 1998. * Women's Review of Books, July 1996.

Selected works

* ''Tumbling'', 1996 * ''Tempest Rising'', 1998 * ''Blues Dancing'', 1999 * ''Leaving Cecil Street'', 2004 * ''Trading Dreams at Midnight'', 2008 * 'Philadelphia Blues' * ''

Lazaretto A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...

'', 2016

Awards and recognition

Athenaeum Literary Award The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814 to collect materials ...

Athenaeum of Philadelphia The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, located at 219 S. 6th Street between St. James Place and Locust Street in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a special collections library and museum founded in 1814 to collect materials ...

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

grant * Finalist, Pew Fellowship in the Arts * Zora Neale Hurston Society award for creative contribution to literature * Citation, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania * Author of the Year Award, Go On Girl Book Club *

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Black Caucus Award for Fiction, 2005 and 2009American Library Associatio

accessed January 31, 2011.

References

External links

Interview with Diane McKinney-Whetstone
on the

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co-an ...

show.
Diane McKinney-Whetstone
on NJN Public Television's ''Another View: Bookshelf''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mckinney-Whetstone, Diane 1953 births Living people University of Pennsylvania faculty 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists African-American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Pennsylvania American women academics 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers