Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is an American journalist whose works focus on the marginalized members of society: adolescents living in poverty, prostitutes, women in prison, etc. She is best known for her 2003

non-fiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or content (media), media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real life, real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to pre ...

book '' Random Family''. She was a recipient of the

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

—popularly known as the "Genius Grant"—in 2006.

Background and education

LeBlanc grew up in a working-class family in Leominster, Massachusetts. She studied at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. She worked for ''Seventeen'' as an editor after earning her master's degree in modern literature at Oxford.

''Random Family''

LeBlanc's first book, '' Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx'', took more than 10 years to research and write. ''Random Family'' is a nonfiction account of the struggles of two women and their family as they deal with love, drug dealers, babies and prison time in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. LeBlanc and ''Random Family'' garnered several awards and nominations. Her research methods earned her a spot among several other

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

s and nonfiction writers in Robert Boynton's book, ''New New Journalism''.

Career

Journalism

LeBlanc has contributed to ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

''. She currently lives in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Academic

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc was a Holtzbrinck Fellow at the '' American Academy in Berlin'', Germany, for Spring 2009. She is a visiting scholar at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University 2009–2010. She was part of the Harman Writer-in-Residence Program at ''

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

'' in Spring 2011.

Publications

* ''Gang Girl: When Manny's Locked-Up'' (August, 1994) * ''Landing from the Sky'' (The New Yorker, April 23, 2000) * ''When the Man of the House Is in the Big House'' (Cover, January, 2003) * * ''Sidelines'' (About the work of Swiss artist Uwe Wittwer, in ''Geblendet / Dazzled'': Kehrer, Heidelberg, 2005) * '' 'The Ground We Lived On': A Father's Last Days''
(documenting the last months of her father's life, on NPR's ''All Things Considered'', 2006)

Awards

* Margolis Award (2000) *

Lettre Ulysses Award The Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage has been given annually since 2003 for the best texts in the genre of literary reportage, which must have been first published during the previous two years. The award was initiated by Lettre Intern ...

(2003) * ''New York Times'' Best Books of the Year (2003) * Borders Original Voices Award for Nonfiction * MacArthur Fellow (2006)

References

External links

*
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc in ''The New York Times Magazine'' on Education in Hollywood

Reviews

Adrian Nicole LeBlanc on NPR about ''Random Family''

Robert S. Boynton in ''The New Journalism'' on Adrian LeBlanc and ''Random Family''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leblanc, Adrian Nicole American women journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) MacArthur Fellows Smith College alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Yale University alumni 21st-century American women