Diane McKinney-Whetstone

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

She is mentioned in: Booklist, April 15, 1996, February 15, 1998, February 15, 2000. Book Quarterly, April 4–11, 1996. The Detroit News, June 1, 1996. Essence, July 1996 November 1999, August 2000. Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 1996. Library Journal, June 15, 1996, March 1, 1998, October 1, 1999, November 1, 1999. Penn Arts & Sciences, fall 1996. The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 1998. People, May 27, 1996. School Library Journal, 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 Lazaretto: A Novel, 2016 Our Gen, 2022 Family Spirit, 2025

Awards and recognition Athenaeum Literary Award, Athenaeum of Philadelphia Pennsylvania Council on the Arts 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 Black Caucus Award for Fiction, 2005 and 2009