Bryden, Diana

Diana Fitzgerald, a Canadian literary author, was born in London, England. She was best known for her poetry, but also wrote novels, reviews, and columns. Her family lived around the corner from the Jordanian Embassy; its occupation by protesters demanding the release of a PLO hijacker, Leila Khaled, made a big impression on her at age 9. She later attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute with her younger sister, graduating in 1980, with a Kerr award for character, scholarship, and leadership. In 1984, she graduated from Trinity College. She has been a course instructor at Humber College in Toronto. Her poems have appeared in two Insomniac Press anthologies and Vintage 96, the anthology of the League of Canadian Poets. The Torontonian’s first collection of poems, "Learning Russian", shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award, was published in 2000, followed by "Clinic Day" in 2004. Her first novel, "No Place Strange", which appeared in 2009, features a female terrorist reminiscent of Leila Khaled, who later became a member of the Palestinian National Council.