Frances Stead Sellers is a senior writer at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and frequent moderator for the newsroom’s live platform, Washington Post Live.

Life and career

Sellers’ career as a reporter, editor and moderator has ranged from politics to the arts and sciences. In recent years, she has written extensively about the coronavirus pandemic and the country’s political polarization and cultural upheaval. As a national political reporter, Sellers covered the 2016 presidential campaign, writing about the leading candidates and key figures in the Trump administration. She was a member of the team that wrote the 2016 best seller '' Trump Revealed: The Definitive Biography of the 45th President''. She is a regular host of Washington Post Live and has interviewed key figures in the contemporary political and cultural conversations. Sellers has been a senior editor in charge of several sections of ''The Washington Post'', including Health and Science and the signature daily section, Style, which focuses on political profiles, personalities, arts and ideas. As deputy national editor, Sellers ran the newsroom's health, science and environmental coverage, during the H1N1 pandemic, the battle over health reform, the

Deepwater Horizon oil spill The ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill (also referred to as the "BP oil spill") was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered ...

and the

2011 Japanese tsunami Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

and

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 and ...

. Her previous jobs at the Post include deputy editor of Outlook, the Sunday commentary section. Sellers is often called upon to explain U.S. current events to British audiences on BBC Radio 4's current affairs programming. She has appeared as a commentator on BBC World News and MSNBC's

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough r ...

and interviewed prominent figures in the arts, sciences and politics. She is a moderator for idea festivals and academic conferences. Sellers joined ''The Post'' from ''Civilization'', the bi-monthly magazine of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. She was a member of the launch team, and led the magazine to a National Magazine Award for General Excellence in its first year of publication. Sellers started her career at ''

Dædalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. He is the father of Icarus, the uncle of Perdix, a ...

'', the Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Sellers was born in Britain, graduated from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and came to the United States as a British Thouron scholar to study linguistics at 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 ...

. Among many other areas of interest, she is known for writing about language, citizenship and identity. Sellers is married to the law professor

Mortimer Sellers Mortimer Newlin Stead Sellers (M.N.S. Sellers) (born 1959) is Regents Professor of the University System of MarylandElkins Professorof the University System of Maryland, Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and past Presi ...

Awards

* Visiting Fellow, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2017 * Visiting Fellow, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 2017 * Press Fellow, UN Foundation, 2015 * Press Fellow,

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduate education, postgraduates. The college also a ...

- 2006 * Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow - 2003 * British Thouron Scholarship

References

External links

''Frances Stead Sellers'' (author page)
Biography and recent stories, ''The Washington Post'' * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sellers, Frances Stead Living people Year of birth missing (living people) The Washington Post people Journalists from Washington, D.C. Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford American women journalists 21st-century American women