About

Welcome from the Owner

Hi! That’s me. My name is Diedra Drake. I created Dante’s Academy because I’m obsessed with cultural awareness and classical education. I hope that everyone who comes here finds something interesting that impacts their lives for the better.

I tore through the classics, became obsessed with topics ranging from general history to economics and philosophy. My greatest interests are in mythology and religion.

As an author, I primarily write books in the paranormal romance genre but my stories have a huge amount of mythology and history included (go figure!). I do have some non-fiction out, and I’m planning to work on some modern translations for Dante’s.

Why is this site called Dante’s Academy?

I actually named it after Dante Alighieri. If you’re not familiar, he was a popular Italian poet who lived in the Middle Ages and is most well-known for writing the Divine Comedy (of which pretty much everyone has only ever read the Inferno part). I love the story and I feel that the entire process it illustrates is an excellent metaphor for growth.

Why Include the ESL Stuff?

As a native English speaker (American English if it’s not obvious), I am very aware that English is a difficult language for others to learn, and yet one that we demand the world be able to use. As someone who finds language learning very hard, I wanted to make sure that I took advantage of all the places that present opportunity to reach out to those learning English as a Second Language.

Why Only Western Civilization?

Hopefully it won’t only be that. But that’s what I know best and where I’m starting. I think the world is full of amazing and wonderful cultural experiences and I can’t wait to add them.