Francesca Lia Block facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Francesca Lia Block
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| Born | December 3, 1962 Los Angeles, California, US |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
| Period | 1989–present |
| Notable awards | Margaret Edwards Award 2005 |
| Children | 2 |
Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She is known for the Weetzie Bat series, which she began while a student at UC Berkeley.
Early life
Block was born in Los Angeles in 1962. Her mother was a poet and her father was the screenwriter and painter Irving Block. She attended the University of California, Berkeley., and later studied for her MFA from the University of California at Riverside.
Career
Block writes both novels and 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 has published over 40 books.
Block did not originally start out with an editor, but was published by using her connections. She attributed her success partly to publishers being interested in shorter books.
In 2014, Block was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College. Block is a member of the Authors Guild, Authors League of America, and the Writers Guild of America.
In 2018, it was confirmed that Weetzie Bat would be produced as a feature film, with Justin Kelly attached as director. Block wrote the screenplay for the film.
Block 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."
Personal life
Block has a son and a daughter.
Awards and nominations
- 1996: Baby Be-Bop was nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult/Children's Book
- 2001: Dangerous Angels was inducted into the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards Hall of Fame
- 2005: American Library Association (ALA) Margaret A. Edwards Award for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature" for the first five Weetzie Bat books.
- 2009: Weetzie Bat won the 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.
See also
