Occupation Writer Parents Irving Block Role Writer | Name Francesca Block Period 1989–present | |
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Notable awards Margaret Edwards Award2005 Education University of California, Berkeley Awards Gaylactic Spectrum Award Hall of Fame People also search for Irving Block, James Tiptree, Jr., Carmen Staton Nominations James Tiptree, Jr. Award Books Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, The rose and the beast, I Was a Teenage Fairy, Wasteland Profiles | ||
Francesca Lia Block at the Writers' Program Publication Party 2011
Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature: fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry. She is known best for the Weetzie Bat series — named after its first installment and her first novel, which she wrote while a UC Berkeley student, Weetzie Bat (HarperColins, 1989). She is known for her use of imagery, especially in describing the city of Los Angeles. One New York Times Book Review critic said, "Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler." She won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 2005 for her contribution in writing for teens.
Contents
- Francesca Lia Block at the Writers Program Publication Party 2011
- Francesca lia block s advice for writers
- Life
- Awards and nominations
- Baby Be Bop controversy
- References
Francesca lia block s advice for writers
Life
Block was born in Los Angeles to a poet and a painter, their creativity an obvious influence on her writing. Another influence was her childhood love of Greek mythology and fairy tales. She left her birth city only to attend the UC Berkeley. She has often professed her love of Los Angeles, calling it a "jasmine-scented, jacaranda-purple, neon sparked city," which she has nicknamed in her books "Shangri-LA." She currently lives in Los Angeles with her daughter, Jasmine Angelina (about whom she wrote her book Guarding the Moon), her son Samuel Alexander, and her two dogs: a springer spaniel named Vincent Van Go Go Boots and a beagle mix named Thumper.
While perhaps best known for her novels, Block is also a lifelong writer of poetry. Her first two books, Moon Harvest (1978) and Season of Green (1979), were small-press illustrated poetry collections, now out of print. Since then, she has released several standalone collections of poetry, as well as incorporating poetry and lyrics into many of her novels.
She is currently developing an original show for MTV and writing the screenplay which will bring Weetzie Bat to the cinema. Block's work has been translated into several different languages, including French, Italian, German, and Japanese, and is published around the world.
Block is a member of the Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the Writers Guild of America.
She has collaborated with artistic photographer Suza Scalora to write Evidence of Angels, released in 2009.
Awards and nominations
The ALA Margaret A. Edwards Award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". Block won the annual award in 2005 when the panel cited the first five Weetzie Bat novellas, published from 1989 to 1995. The Chair observed that "Block's work has been considered ground-breaking for its magical realism and bringing alive the L.A. scene. Block takes traditional folklore archetypes and translates them for contemporary teens with her inventive use of lyrical language, transforming gritty urban environments into a funky fairy tale dream world."
Baby Be-Bop controversy
In June 2009, Block's book Baby Be-bop, which deals with the life of a gay teenager, was part of a controversy in West Bend, Wisconsin, where several parents' groups insisted that the book, among others, be removed from the local public library and publicly burned.