Diane (Devennie) Hamilton was born in Philadelphia; she is a first-generation Irish-American whose father came to the U.S. from County Donegal. For 10 years she worked in an oil refinery in Philadelphia and later moved to New York City where she attended New York University and received a BFA in Film and TV in 1988. She subsequently received an MA in Public Librarianship from Rowan University and is currently Assistant Director of the Cape May County Library in Cape May Court House, N.J.

In 2000, Diane spent a month in County Donegal, where her father’s cousins still live on the land where he was raised. Diane has wanted to be poet since she was five years old, when her father told her that poets were revered in Ireland and considered important members of society.

Diane lives in the seashore town of Del Haven, N.J., with her husband Michael and their dogs Rolo and Cisco. She has taught poetry workshops at the University of Pennsylvania and the Cape May County Library. She is a photographer and avid birdwatcher.