Francesca Lia Block


Francesca Lia Block 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 Berkeley.

Early life

Block was born in Los Angeles to a poet and a painter. She attended UC Berkeley.

Career

Block writes both novels and poetry. Her first two books, Moon Harvest and Season of Green, 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.
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. Block's work has been translated into several different languages, including French, Italian, German, and Japanese, and is published around the world.
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