Francesca Lia Block (born December 3, 1962) is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature. She wrote the '' Weetzie Bat'' series, which she began while a student at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Early life and education

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 North Hollywood High School and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, 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 The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

. 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."

Writing style and genres

Block sees her books as being in the tradition of magical realism, and she has said that she was heavily influenced by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende, as well as Emily Dickinson. She has been compared to S.E. Hinton because of themes like sex, death, drugs, and broken homes that occur in her works. Many of her books have been categorized as young adult fiction, but Block has also written adult fiction, non-fiction, short stories, and poetry.

Personal life

Block has a son and a daughter. She lives in Los Angeles.

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 The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

(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.

Bibliography

;Standalone novels *''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) *''The Elementals'' (St. Martin's Press, 2013) *''Love in the Time of Global Warming'' (2013) *''Teen Spirit'' (2014) *''The Island of Excess Love'' (2014) *''Beyond the Pale Motel'' (2014) *''My Miserable Life'' (2016), as F.L. Block *''Lost Children'' (2021), audiobook ''House Of Hearts'' (Rare Bird Books, 2022)

References

External links

* * *
Weetzie Bat Screenplay ReadingFrancesca Lia Block
at

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Authorities — with 38 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Francesca Lia 1962 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American children's writers American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists Margaret A. Edwards Award winners Writers from Los Angeles American women children's writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women writers of young adult literature American writers of young adult literature 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers