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
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
book ''
Random Family''. She was a recipient of the
MacArthur Fellowship
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
—popularly known as the "Genius Grant"—in 2006.
Background and education
LeBlanc grew up in a working-class family in
Leominster, Massachusetts
Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,782 at the 2020 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Both ...
. 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. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, and
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. She worked for
Seventeen Magazine 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 a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. LeBlanc and ''
Random Family'' garnered several awards and nominations. Her research methods earned her a spot among several other
journalists
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
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 supplement 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 ''
Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'', the ''
New Yorker
New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to:
* A resident of the State of New York
** Demographics of New York (state)
* A resident of New York City
** List of people from New York City
* ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925
* ''The New ...
'' and ''
Esquire magazine
''Esquire'' is an American men's magazine. Currently published in the United States by Hearst Communications, it also has more than 20 international editions.
Founded in 1933, it flourished during the Great Depression and World War II under t ...
''. She currently lives in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Academic
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc was a Holtzbrinck Fellow at the ''
American Academy in Berlin
The American Academy in Berlin is a private, independent, nonpartisan research and cultural institution in Berlin dedicated to sustaining and enhancing the long-term intellectual, cultural, and political ties between the United States and Germany ...
'', Germany, for Spring 2009. She is a visiting scholar at the
Arthur L. Carter
Arthur L. Carter (born December 24, 1931) is an American investment banker, publisher, and artist.
Biography
Born to a American Jews, Jewish family, Carter graduated from Brown University in 1953 with a degree in French literature.
He served i ...
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. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the college operates und ...
'' in Spring 2011.
Other 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
Uwe Wittwer (born 1954) is a Swiss artist. He lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland. The media he uses include watercolor, oil painting, inkjet prints and video.
Life and work
Uwe Wittwer is an autodidact. Born 1954 in Zurich where he we ...
, 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 (2003)
#New York Times Best Books of the Year (2003)
#Borders Original Voices Award for Nonfiction
#MacArthur Fellow
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...
(2006)
References
External links
margolis.com
lettre-ulysses-award.org
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc on NPR about ''Random Family''
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc website
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