Dianne, a professional writer and First Church member, is FUMCO Poet in Residence. She brings the power of poetry as a spiritual expression and will work to incorporate poetry and other literary arts into the spiritual life of the church.

Dianne has been generous about sharing her knowledge and love of writing with her First Church family. She served on the Education and Discipleship Committee and taught two writing classes: “Writing Faith-Based Poetry” and “Creative Non-Fiction as Spiritual Expression.” During the current season of Lent, she wrote weekly prayers of confession and pardon that were published in the bulletin and used in worship.

She holds undergraduate degrees in geology and English as well as a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida.  Her career includes stints as a writing tutor, managing editor of a literary magazine, freelance editor and content creator, and college professor.  She is currently employed as a technical/proposal writer for a government services contractor based here in Orlando and serves on the Creative Writing Program Advisory Council for Full Sail University.