Diane Stevenson was born and raised on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. She secured an M.F.A. from Columbia University and was granted a graduate degree without an undergraduate degree. Next, she parlayed Columbia’s Ph.D. program in American literature and published The Beauty Shop Monologues, nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She's a Breadloaf Scholar and was listed in an early edition under “Outstanding Writers: Poets.” Stevenson was one of the 3 authors of ‘Did You Kiss A Cat Today’ a book of humorous and poignant poetry for children of all ages. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College, Hobart and William Smith, and the University of Southern Mississippi. She's published poems and articles in The Nation, Boulevard, Pataphysics, Raritan, The Yale Review, Socialist Review, and The Mississippi Review. Her husband was the late great film critic and historian Gilberto Perez.