Diane Armstrong was born in Poland and arrived in Australia with her parents on the SS Derna in 1948. After gaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sydney, she became a freelance journalist. Over 3000 of her articles have been published in Australia and around the world, winning national and international awards, including the Pluma de Plata from the Mexican government and the George Munster Award for Independent Journalism in Australia.
In 1998, Diane’s internationally acclaimed memoir, Mosaic: A Chronicle of Five Generations, was published and was shortlisted for the National Biography Award and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. Her second bestselling book, The Voyage of Their Life: the Story of the SS Derna and its Passengers, was published in 2001 and was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award. It was followed in 2005 by her first novel, Winter Journey, which was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book, South East Asia and South Pacific region. Winter Journey has been translated into Polish and is currently translated into Hebrew.
Nocturne is her second novel.
Diane lives in Sydney with her husband, Michael. They have a daughter and son, and three grand-daughters.