Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Biography

Bledsoe was born into a family of many members in Portland, Oregon, United States, where she grew up. Bledsoe stated in an interview that she started writing stories when she was young and had always wanted to become a writer. She was inspired to write by her high school teacher. From 1975 to 1977, Bledsoe attended Williams College. She earned a B.A. at University of California at Berkeley in 1979.

Career and honors

Bledsoe writes both fiction and non-fiction books, though to her contemporary fiction is most interesting to write, as she loves "exploring [her] imagination". Bledsoe has said that her works are influenced by many authors, among them James Baldwin, Willa Cather, Adrienne Rich, and Barbara Kingsolver. While her writings primarily focus on LGBT literature, Bledsoe also writes about family relationships and adventures in the wild.

In 1985, she received the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. In 1995, Bledsoe published Sweat: Stories and a Novella, which helped her garner her first Lambda Literary Award finalist title for Lesbian Fiction. In 1997, she wrote her first adult novel Working Parts, for which she received the 1998 Stonewall Book Award - the American Library Association Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Award for Literature.

In 1998, Lesbian Travels: A Literary Companion, Whereabout Books, which she worked on as the editor, garnered her a second Lambda Literary Award finalist title, this time for Anthologies/Non-Fiction. In 2002, Bledsoe was awarded a California Arts Council fellowship in literature.

Bledsoe's 2002 children book Hoop Girlz, which is about a ten-year-old girl who loves playing basketball but, due to being rejected to play in a basketball camp tournament, she decides to form her own team. Hoop Girlz was selected as one of Booklist 's Top 10 Sports Books for Youth of the year and featured among Core Collection: Sports Fiction for Girls. Her second Lambda Literary Award finalist title for Lesbian Fiction (third Lambda Literary Award finalist title when counting all categories) came in 2003 with the publication of her second adult novel This Wild Silence.

Bledsoe has travelled to Antarctica three times and written three books about Antarctica, How to Survive in Antarctica, The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic, and The Big Bang Symphony. Her newest novel Biting the Apple was published in 2007 and is currently a finalist for the 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards in the category Women's fiction.

Besides writing, Bledsoe writes science curriculum and has written CD-ROM scripts for National Geographic and several other educational organizations, e.g. George Lucas Educational Foundation. From 1997 to 2003, she taught creative writing in the Masters of Creative Writing Graduate Program at the University of San Francisco. Bledsoe contributes to several magazines, including Newsday, Conditions, Ms., Fiction International, and Frontiers.

Bledsoe books and stories have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German, and Dutch. Bledsoe has been given two National Science Foundation artist and writers in Antarctica fellowships.

Criticism

Bledsoe was criticised for allegedly unscientific and inaccurate work in the High School textbook "Fearon's Biology", especially the phrase "tiny green specks" to describe the ultimate origins of life on Earth.

Bledoe's novel, A Thin Bright Line was praised by Kirkus Review as a novel which "merges fact and fiction to create a historically accurate picture of the struggles faced by LGBT people in the 1950s and '60s; the closeting that was required for professional advancement; and the ways the Cold War pitted pure science against research to benefit the defense industry. A stirring and deeply felt story." and by the New York Times Book Review which said it "triumphs as an intimate and humane evocation of day-to-day life under inhumane circumstances."