Emily Diesburg

Lancaster, PA USA
Contact

Professional Experience

I'm a globe-trotting arts and culture writer hungry for assignments off the beaten path. I specialize in profiles, long-form narrative nonfiction, arts and culture reporting and lifestyle features as well as content related to Germany. I've foraged with mushroom hunters, talked craft with the best literary writers in the country, and have unraveled the mysteries of the Iowa Electronic Markets in passionate pursuit of the story. I do it all on-deadline, with sheer professionalism, and with a doggedness most journalists reserve for investigative work.

Expertise

Editor
5 Years
Reporter
3 Years
Writer
7 Years

Specialty

Arts & Humanities
4 Years
Government
3 Years
International
5 Years

Industries


Academia Teaching
2 Years
Magazine - Large Consumer/National magazines
3 Years
PR (firm) - Small to mid-sized corp. clients
4 Years

Total Media Industry Experience

5 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

University of Iowa Alumni Magazine (3-5), ArtNews (1-2), Des Moines Register (1-2), Publishers Weekly (1-2), German Life magazine (3-5), ArtScene Iowa (10+), Germany.info (10+)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

German Embassy (10+), University of Iowa Museum of Art (10+), Adams Media (book publishing) (1-2)

Other Work History

Adjunct writing instructor at the University of Iowa.

Foreign Language Skills

German, beginning Italian

Computer Skills

Macromedia Dreamweaver, MX certified, MS Suite, Mac literate, beginning HTML, Adobe Photoshop

Equipment

Canon Rebel Xti

References

Stefan Moebs, German Embassy, Howard Collinson, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Katrin Lange, Literaturhas Munich, Thom Haller, Info Design, Don McLeese, University of Iowa, Stephen Bloom, University of Iowa

Awards

Fulbright Student Grant to Germany (2001-2003) Lucretia van Tyl Award for outstanding German student at Penn State, Josephine J. Rhea Award for Academic Excellence in Italian (Penn State).

Associations

Fulbright Association, Phi Beta Kappa, DAAD

Showcase

Books

Englisch in 24 Stunden
(Compact Verlag 7/1/2003)
An introductory textbook for German-speaking English-language learners, published in Germany.
Lance Laguna's DANCE DANCE DANCE
(Running Press Publishers 10/15/2000)
An instructional Mini-book on ballroom dancing, written while I was in intern at Running Press.

Travel Writing

Meeting your Waterloo -- and loving it
(The Daily Iowan 6/1/2007)
A travel story exploring the sensual pleasures of a dingy, industrial town. Waterloo is experiencing something of a revival with its artist-in-residence, the grafitti painter "Paco."
Behind Grant Wood's Canvas
(ArtScene Iowa 9/1/2007)
A visit to the sites in eastern Iowa that inspired Grant Wood's greatest masterpieces.
Labyrinths in Iowa
(The Iowa Source 6/1/2008)
A travel story looking at the trend of labyrinth-building in eastern Iowa and its meditative roots.

Arts Reporting

Grant Wood's Studio: Birthplace of American Gothic
(Washington City Paper 3/24/2006)
An arts listing on the opening of the Grant Wood exhibition in Washington, D.C.
Reliving the '50's with popcorn and 'Romance'
(The Daily Iowan 6/22/2007)
A tongue-in-cheek look at drive-in culture in Iowa seen through the experiences of the people who work there. In 2007, Iowa saw its number of drive-ins increase from three to four with the addition of a brand new drive-in in Grandview.
Culture Clash in Pencil and Paper
(ArtScene Iowa 6/1/2007)
Long-form arts article on the exhibition of Plains Indians ledger drawings at the University of Iowa Museum of Art

Germany

Germany's Christmas Markets
(German Embassy 12/1/2003)
I conceived, researched, reported, wrote, edited and executed this online feature on Germany's Christmas markets, one of the country's main tourist draws and a piece of German culture that has stayed relatively unchanged for the past hundred years.
German artist Demand lectures at the Hirschhorn
(Germany.info 4/22/2005)
A report on the talk by celebrated German artist Thomas Demand at the Hirschhorn.
Fifteen Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall
(Germany.info 11/1/2005)
I conceived, reported and wrote this expansive web feature on the 15th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Literary Reporting

The Magic Touch
(University of Iowa Alumni Magazine 6/1/2008)
A profiile of children's fantasy book author Sarah Prineas, hailed by some as the next J.K. Rowling.
Friendship in the time of war
(The Daily Iowan 6/22/2007)
A book review of Khaled Hosseini's latest novel, One Thousand Splendid Suns.
Living Tiny Footprints
(Daily Iowan 6/18/2007)
Article on the book trend of reducing one's ecological footprint and writing about it, centered on local prophet Greg Johnson, founder of the Small House Movement and author of a book called "Living Small."
Book Signing Junkie
(Publisher's Weekly 2/25/2008)
A first-person piece for the back page of Publishers Weekly on my obsession with book signings.
Hardscrabble life in the nomadic lane
(Daily Iowan 7/9/2007)
Profile of young author Andrea Portes, author of the debut novel Hick.

Culture Reporting

Good for what ales you
(Daily Iowan 7/12/2007)
A long feature on the interplay between Iowa City home beer brewers and the local microbrewery, Millstream Brewing Co., set against the backdrop of the history of brewing beer at home.
Loving the Purple Reign
(Daily Iowan metro 7/23/2007)
Culture feature, published on A1 above the fold, about the movement among Amish farmers to house the purple martin, a bird once thought to eat as many as 2,000 mosquitoes a day.

Translations German-English

Die Spur des Höllenhundes
(Compact Verlag 12/2/2003)
Translation German-English of novella with built-in English language-learning exercises for native German speakers.
Our Men in Washington
(German Embassy 6/1/2005)
English-language translation of a collection of essays by German Ambassadors to the United States, including: * 1950-1/1958 Dr. phil. Heinz (Heinrich) Ludwig Hermann Krekeler (20.7.1906-5.8.2003), 6/1950 Consul General, 6/1951 Chargé d'Affaires, 5/1955 Ambassador * 2/1958-5/1962 Prof. Dr. jur. Wilhelm Grewe (16.10.1911-11.1.2000) * 6/1962(Agrément)-31.12.1968/1969 Karl Heinrich Knappstein (15.4.1906-6.5.1989) * 20.12.1968(Agrément)/1969-1973 Dr. jur. Rolf Friedemann Pauls (*26.8.1915) * 2/1973-11/1979 Berndt von Staden (*24.6.1919) * 1979-9.7.1984 Dr. jur. Peter Hermes (*8.8.1922) * 7/1984-10/1987(Ruhestand) Günther van Well (15.10.1922-14.8.1993) * 11/1987-8/1992 Dr. jur. Jürgen Ruhfus (*4.8.1930) Mun * 1992-1995 Immo Stabreit (*24.1.1933) Mun * 1995-2001 Jürgen Chrobog (*28.2.1940) Mun * 2001-2006 Wolfgang Ischinger (*6.4.1946) Bot [2002- Mun] * 3/2006- Dr. Klaus Scharioth (*8. Oktober 1946)