Debra Di Blasi (born 1957) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and former

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Biography

Debra Di Blasi was born May 27, 1957, in

Kirksville, Missouri Kirksville is the county seat and most populous city in Adair County, Missouri. Located in Benton Township, its population was 17,530 at the 2020 census. Kirksville is home to two colleges: Truman State University and A.T. Still University. ...

. She grew up in northern Missouri. She was the art columnist for ''

The Pitch The Pitch may refer to: * "The Pitch" (''Seinfeld'') * ''The Pitch'' (TV series), an AMC original series * ''The Pitch'' (podcast), an American podcast * ''The Pitch'' (newspaper), a newspaper in Kansas City * A segment in ''The Gruen Transfer ...

'' magazine, and taught experimental writing, hyperfiction, mixed media fiction, and other writing courses at

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. It has approxi ...

for seven years. She has taught and lectured on 21st Century narrative forms at universities and conferences including &NOW Conference and Associated Writing Programs Conference. From 2008 to January 2016, she was founding publisher of the multimedia company Jaded Ibis Productions, LLC, and managing editor of its book imprint Jaded Ibis Press. In January 2016, she sold the company's assets to newly formed Jaded Ibis Press, LLC.

Works

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' praised her story collection ''Prayers of an Accidental Nature'' for its "clear, resonant prose, laced with bittersweet humor." Likewise ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' wrote that "Di Blasi's style and her objective distance and comprehension of her chosen subject mark her as a very psychologically driven, very talented writer." Her writing is frequently included in related literary

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

and has appeared in the journals ''

The Los Angeles Review Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press located in Pasadena, California, and specializing in the publication of poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction. The press is a member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, and was a final ...

'', ''

TriQuarterly ''TriQuarterly'' is a name shared by an American literary magazine and a series of books, both operating under the aegis of Northwestern University Press. The journal is published twice a year and features fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, liter ...

'', ''New Letters'', ''

The Iowa Review ''The Iowa Review'' is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. History and profile Founded in 1970, ''Iowa Review'' is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Origin ...

'', ''Chelsea'', ''Boulevard'', '' Notre Dame Review'', and many others. Her stories have been adapted to radio, film, theatre and audio CD in the U.S. and abroad. Her screenwriting credits include ''The Walking Wounded'', finalist in the 1996 Austin Screenwriters Competition, and ''Drought'', for which she won the 1999 Cinovation Screenwriting Award. ''Drought'' was directed by Lisa Moncure won a host of national and international awards. It was one of only six U.S. films included in the Universe Elle special section of the 2000

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. From the University of Alabama Press: Con—ceptualisms Forms at War The Jiri Chronicles

Awards

1991 Diagram Innovative Fiction Award, 2008 Inspiration Grant from Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City ''Drought & Say What You Like'' won the 1998 Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award. 2003 James C. McCormick Fellowship in Fiction from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation Di Blasi received an &NOW award in 2009 for her stories “The Incomplete But Real History of The Jiri Chronicles Illustrated by The Real Jiri Cech” and “Products” published in The &NOW Awards: The Best Innovative Writing in 2009. An early version of her manuscript, Selling the Farm: Descants from a Recollected Past, was a 2017 finalist in Four Way Books Levis Prize in Poetry, and semifinalist in Seneca Review's Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Award. Di Blasi has been a regular participant in the biennial

&NOW Festival &Now is traveling biennial literary festival and a publishing organization, both focused on innovative literature. The festival's main emphasis is on work that blends or crosses genres and includes a wide variety of work, such as multimedia projects ...

.She received the 2019 C&R Press Nonfiction Award for ''Selling the Farm: Descants from a Recollected Past'' (September 2020) She also received three Pushcart Prize nominations, among other awards. She was a finalist in the Heekin Foundation's Novel-in-Progress.

Bibliography

;Short fiction collections *''Skin of the Sun: New Writing'', Amazon Digital Service, LLC, Seattle, WA (first edition: 2019) *''TODAY IS THE DAY THAT WILL MATTER: An Oral History of the New America: #AlternativeFictions'', Black Scat Books, San Francisco, CA (2018) *''Ugly Town: The Movie: A Novel'', Amazon Digital Service, LLC (ADS), Seattle, WA (2016) *''The Jiri Chronicles & Other Fictions'', FC2/University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, AL (2007) *''Prayers of An Accidental Nature'', Coffee House Press, Minneapolis (1999) *''Drought & Say What You Like'', New Directions, New York (1997) ;Novels *''What the Body Requires'', Jaded Ibis Press, Seattle (2009); ;Memoirs *''Selling the Farm: Descants from a Recollected Past'', C&R Press, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2020); ;Editor *''Dirty:Dirty'', Jaded Ibis Press, Seattle (2013)

References

External links

Official websiteShow Me Something New: Jaded Ibis Press Is Dragging the Book into the Future
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Blasi, Debra 1957 births Living people 20th-century American novelists People from Kirksville, Missouri American women screenwriters Kansas City Art Institute alumni American women short story writers American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers Screenwriters from Missouri Writers from Missouri 21st-century American women Electronic literature writers