Diane is a Professor of English Literature at Oxford and fellow of Keble College. Her areas of interest include  the English Civil War, Milton, and Marvell; Marvell in manuscript culture; the supernatural, especially witchcraft; food and food history; children’s literature; folklore and folktale/fairytale; writer’s block and the writing process.

Her most recently published work of history is English Food (HarperCollins, 2022) which invites readers on a unique journey through the centuries, exploring the development of recipes and rituals for mealtimes such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to show how food has been both a reflection of an inspiration for social continuity and change