Lois M. Leveen is an American writer, educator and historian based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Early life and education

Leveen graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, and

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Writing

Leveen published her first novel, ''The Secrets of Mary Bowser,'' in 2012. The novel is based on the life of

Mary Bowser Mary Richards, also known as Mary Jane Richards Garvin and possibly Mary Bowser (born 1846), was a Union (American Civil War), Union spy during the American Civil War, Civil War. She was possibly born Slavery in the United States, enslaved from bir ...

, a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

slave who became a spy for the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. It was named one of ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'''s Top Ten Northwest Books of 2012, and has been optioned for film. For her second novel, ''Juliet's Nurse'', Leveen reimagined the story of Shakespeare's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' from the point of view of the nurse. The audiobook, which was read by Nicola Barber, won an

Earphones Award ''AudioFile'' is a print and online magazine whose mission is to review "unabridged and abridged audiobooks, original audio programs, commentary, and dramatizations in the spoken-word format. The focus of reviews is the audio presentation, not the ...

from ''

AudioFile Magazine ''AudioFile'' is a print and online magazine whose mission is to review "unabridged and abridged audiobooks, original audio programs, commentary, and dramatizations in the spoken-word format. The focus of reviews is the audio presentation, not the ...

''. One of Leveen's essays is mentioned in ''CrossRoutes: The Meanings of "Race" for the 21st Century'', a 2003 book.

Bibliography

* ''The Secrets of Mary Bowser'' (2012) * ''Juliet's Nurse'' (2014)

References

External links

*
Curriculum vitae

Leveen discusses ''The Secrets of Mary Bowser''
at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

on January 18, 2013 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leveen, Lois M. Living people Educators from Oregon American women educators Writers from Portland, Oregon American women writers University of Southern California alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Harvard College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women