Diana Veiga is a gifted storyteller who brings truth, wit and insight to the page and on the stage. She loves to observe the lives of ordinary people and their everyday experiences and uses them to create stories that exhibit the humor and beauty in the seemingly mundane.
Born and raised in Silver Spring, MD, Diana graduated from Spelman College and now resides in Washington, D.C. In order to pay the bills, she has worked several jobs (sometimes at the same time) from bartender, to cocktail waitress, to nonprofit organization worker, to business owner, to freelance writer, to government employee.
When not writing or performing, you can probably find her avoiding writing and hanging out at one of her favorite spots in the city – drinking, eating tacos, wearing something sparkly, killing it at trivia night, bragging about being a Leo, and quoting Andre 3000.
Diana began writing at an early age, but didn’t take it seriously until 2004 when she began taking fiction writing courses at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. She took it even more seriously almost a decade later and summoned the courage to pitch freelance article ideas and submit her fiction work for publication.
And then in 2013 all the writing stars aligned and her short story Summertime was published in local bookstore Politics and Prose’s first anthology, District Lines; she won the Go on Girl! Book Club Unpublished Writer Award; and she was selected for the first class of the Kimbilio Fellowship for writers from the African Diaspora.
In 2014, she became the Daily Editor for Clutch Online Magazine and wrote about current events, pop culture, and the African American woman experience. Her writing has been featured on several online publications and you can check them out here.
She is now working on several projects ranging from a collection of short stories that examine Black life in Washington, D.C., a YA book, and a screenplay. And maybe a play. One day she will finish one of these works and get it published and/or produced.
A true Leo, Diana has always loved the limelight, but she officially began her storytelling journey in the summer of 2018 after performing in Story District’s ‘Up Sh*t Creek’ show. She was then selected for their Top Shelf show which features the best stories of the previous year and performed at the Lincoln Theatre in January 2019. Since then she has told stories with Story District, Grassroots Comedy DC, Better Said Than Done, Porchfest DC and more.
A talented orator, Diana has performed in front of diverse audiences and in all kinds of spaces from the DC Improv to the church pulpit where she has delivered inspirational messages. Check out some of her performances here.
No matter the space, whether on the page or on the stage, Diana does her best to show up as her authentic self: a Black woman telling truths and sharing stories -some real or invented - but always filled with vulnerability, humor, and joy.