Francesca Lia Block

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Francesca Lia Block
Francesca Lia Block (2011).jpg
Francesca Lia Block
Born (1962-12-03) December 3, 1962 (age 50)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation Writer

Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is the author of adult and young adult fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry, most famously the Weetzie Bat series.[1] Block wrote her first book, Weetzie Bat, while a student at UC Berkeley; it was published in 1989 by Harper Collins. She is known for her use of imagery, especially in describing the city of Los Angeles.[2] One New York Times Book Review critic said, "Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler."[3] She has collaborated with artistic photographer Suza Scalora to write Evidence of Angels, released in 2009.

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 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. She left 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 is currently[when?] developing an original show for MTV and writing the screenplay which will bring Weetzie Bat to the cinema. She is also the recipient of the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Library Association.[4] Block's work has been translated into seven different languages and is published around the world.

Block is a member of the Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the Writers Guild of America.

Contents

Awards [edit]

Weetzie Bat won the 2009 Phoenix Award from the Children's Literature Association as the best English-language children's book that did not win a major award when it was originally published twenty years earlier. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix, which is reborn from its ashes, to suggest the book's rise from obscurity.[5]

Baby Be-Bop controversy [edit]

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.[6]

Works [edit]

Dangerous Angels series [edit]

  1. Weetzie Bat (1989) —winner of the 2009 Phoenix Award[5]
  2. Witch Baby (1991)
  3. Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys (1992)
  4. Missing Angel Juan (1993)
  5. Baby Be-Bop (1995)
  6. Necklace of Kisses (2005)
  7. Pink Smog (Prequel) (2012)

Weetzie Bat Collections [edit]

  • Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books (collection) (1998)
  • Beautiful Boys: Two Weetzie Bat Books (collection) (2004)
  • Goat Girls: Two Weetzie Bat Books (collection) (2004)

Standalone novels [edit]

  • Ecstasia (1993)
  • The Hanged Man (1994)
  • Primavera (1994)
  • I Was A Teenage Fairy (1998)
  • Violet and Claire (1999)
  • The Rose and the Beast (2000)
  • Echo (2001)
  • Wasteland (2003)
  • Ruby (2006)
  • Psyche In A Dress (2006)
  • Blood Roses (2008)
  • Quakeland (2008)
  • The Waters and the Wild (2009)
  • Pretty Dead (2009)
  • The Frenzy (2010)
  • House of Dolls (2010)
  • Fairy Tales in Electri-City (2011)
  • Elementals (2013) (St. Martin's Press)
  • Little Pink (to be announced)

Collections [edit]

  • Moon Harvest: Poems (poetry) (1978)
  • Season of Green: Poems (poetry) (1979)
  • Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories(1996)
  • The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold (2000)
  • Nymph: Nine Erotic Stories (2003)
  • Blood Roses (2008)
  • How to (Un)cage a Girl (2008)
  • Open Letter to Quiet Light (2009)
  • Love Magick (as anthology Editor) (2012) (Armory Media)

Non-fiction [edit]

  • Zine Scene: the do it yourself guide to zines (1998)
  • Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year (2003)
  • Wood Nymph Seeks Centaur: A Mythological Dating Guide (2009)

Short stories [edit]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Dinitia Smith (2005-05-23). "Writing Frankly, Young-Adult Author Pushes Limits". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
  2. ^ Carolyn Kellogg (2012-03-12). "Francesca Lia Block takes her mortgage woes public". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
  3. ^ Francesca Lia Block (2011-10-25). "Author Francesca Lia Block on Occupy Wall Street: Meditations in the Dark". CNBC. Retrieved 2012-03-17. 
  4. ^ American Library Association (2005-01-17). "American Library Association announces award winners". American Library Association. Retrieved 2010-02-07. 
  5. ^ a b "Phoenix Award Brochure 2012". Children's Literature Association. Retrieved 2012-12-11.
    See also the current homepage "Phoenix Award".
  6. ^ Miller, Laura (June 16, 2009). "A teen book burns at the stake: A Christian group hopes to set fire to library copies of Francesca Lia Block's novel about a gay boy coming of age". Salon. Salon Media Group. Retrieved 2009-06-19. 

External links [edit]

Authority control
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