Leigh Bardugo ( he, לי ברדוגו) is an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i-American fantasy author. She is best known for her

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

Grishaverse novels, which include the ''

Shadow and Bone ''Shadow and Bone'' is a young adult fantasy adventure and debut novel written by Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo. It was published by Macmillan Publishers on June 5, 2012. The novel is narrated by Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who grows ...

'' trilogy, the ''

Six of Crows ''Six of Crows'' is a fantasy novel written by the Israeli-American author Leigh Bardugo and published by Henry Holt and Co. in 2015. The story follows a thieving crew and is primarily set in the city of Ketterdam, which is loosely inspired b ...

'' duology, and the '' King of Scars'' duology. She also received acclaim for her

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

fantasy adult debut, '' Ninth House''. The ''Shadow and Bone'' and ''Six of Crows'' series have been adapted into ''Shadow and Bone'' by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

and ''Ninth House'' will be adapted by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

; Bardugo is an executive producer on both works.

Early life

Bardugo was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Israel, in 1975 and grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, California, U.S. where she was raised by her grandparents. She is secular Jewish and of

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews ...

descent on her father's side, and of

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

(

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

and Lithuanian-Jewish) descent on her mother's side. She attended

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 w ...

, graduating with a degree in English in the spring of 1997. She was a member of the Wolf's Head secret society. Before publishing her first novel, she worked in copywriting and journalism, as well as makeup and special effects.

Career

Bardugo's debut novel, ''

'', the first book in the Grisha trilogy, was published in 2012 by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

. ''Shadow and Bone'' was nominated for the Romantic Times Book Award and the South Carolina Children's Book Award, named an Indie Next List Book, and reviewed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The novel hit #8 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, and had been optioned for film by David Heyman and DreamWorks. The other books in the trilogy, ''Siege and Storm'' and ''Ruin and Rising'', were published by Macmillan in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Bardugo defines ''Shadow and Bone'' genre as ''Tsarpunk'' - a fantasy with inspiration from early 19th century Russia. The ''

'' duology (''Six of Crows'' and ''Crooked Kingdom'') was published by Macmillan in 2015 and 2016. It is set in the same universe as the Grisha trilogy (sometimes collectively referred to as the "Grishaverse"). ''Six of Crows'' was named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book and an ALA-YALSA Top Ten Pick of 2016. ''The Language of Thorns'', a collection of Grisha fairy tales and folk tales, was published by Macmillan in 2017. Bardugo then wrote the first book in the DC Icons series, which are novelizations of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...

' biggest superheroes; her ''Wonder Woman: Warbringer'' was published by

Penguin Random House Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, from the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. On April 2, 2020, Bertelsmann announced the completion of its purchase ...

in 2017. In 2019, Bardugo's first adult novel, '' Ninth House'', was published by

Flatiron Books Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

. It won the 2019 Goodreads Choice Award for best fantasy novel. Bardugo also has essays and short stories in anthology collections such as ''Last Night, A Superhero Saved My Life'', ''Slasher Girls and Monster Boys'', and ''Summer Days and Summer Nights''. Her books have been translated into 22 languages and published in over 50 countries. Bardugo appeared on a Grishaverse panel alongside showrunner Heisserer at

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a ...

in October 2020. She was ranked the sixth most popular author between 2016 and 2021 on Goodreads.

Adaptations

In September 2012, DreamWorks acquired the movie rights to ''Shadow and Bone'' with David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford producing, although this project was not realized. In January 2019,

ordered an eight-episode series based on the ''Shadow and Bone'' and ''Six of Crows'' book series. Bardugo made a cameo appearance in episode three of ''Shadow and Bone''. In October 2019,

announced that it would adapt ''Ninth House''. Bardugo is set to executive produce the project alongside Pouya Shahbazian.

Personal life

In the acknowledgements section of ''Six of Crows'', Bardugo reveals she suffers from

osteonecrosis Avascular necrosis (AVN), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply. Early on, there may be no symptoms. Gradually joint pain may develop which may limit the ability to move. Co ...

and sometimes needs to use a

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance *White cane, a mobility or safety device used by many people who are ...

; this was a source of inspiration for one of the story's six

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s, master thief and gang boss Kaz Brekker, who uses a cane. Bardugo was a singer in the band Captain Automatic from 2006 to 2007. She eloped with her partner of 4 years in January 2022.

Bibliography

The Grishaverse

''Shadow and Bone'' trilogy

* ''

'' (2012) * ''Siege and Storm'' (2013) * ''Ruin and Rising'' (2014)

''Six of Crows'' duology

* ''

'' (2015) * '' Crooked Kingdom'' (2016)

''King of Scars'' duology

* '' King of Scars'' (2019) * ''

Rule of Wolves ''Rule of Wolves'' is a fantasy novel by American author Leigh Bardugo published by Imprint in 2021. It is the seventh overall novel in Bardugo's Grishaverse and the final novel in the ''King of Scars'' duology. The story takes place several we ...

'' (2021)

Companion books

* ''The Language of Thorns'' (2017) * ''The Lives of Saints'' (2020) * ''Demon in the Wood'' (2022)

Other titles

Alex Stern series * '' Ninth House'' (2019) * ''Hell Bent'' (2023) Standalones * ''Wonder Woman: Warbringer'' (2017) Comics * ''Wonder Woman: Warbringer'' (2020) Essays * "We Are Not Amazons" from ''Last Night a Superhero Saved My Life'' anthology (2016) Short Stories * "The Witch of Duva" (2012) * "The Tailor" (2013) * "The Too-Clever Fox" (2013) * "Little Knife" (2014) * "The Demon in the Wood: A Darkling Prequel Story" (2015) *"Verse Chorus Verse" in ''Slasher Girls & Monster Boys'', edited by April Genevieve Tucholke (2015) * "Head, Scales, Tongue, and Tail" in ''Summer Days and Summer Nights'', edited by

Stephanie Perkins Stephanie Perkins is an American author, known for her books '' Anna and the French Kiss'', ''Lola and the Boy Next Door'', The New York Times bestseller ''Isla and the Happily Ever After'' and '' There's Someone Inside Your House'', the latter of ...

(2016) * "Ayama and the Thorn Wood" (2017) * "The Soldier Prince" (2017) * "When Water Sang Fire" (2017) "The Witch of Duva", "The Too-Clever Fox", and "Little Knife" were later released as a set called ''Folktales from Ravka'' in 2015. 2017's ''The Language of Thorns'' collected all of the short stories except "The Tailor" and "The Demon in the Wood".

Critical studies and reviews of Bardugo's work

;''Ninth House'' *

Awards and nominations

The awards the author has received are as follows:

Accolades

References

External links

*
GrishaVerse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bardugo, Leigh 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Moroccan-Jewish descent American people of Israeli descent American young adult novelists American writers of Russian descent Inkpot Award winners Living people Writers from Jerusalem Women writers of young adult literature Yale College alumni American Sephardic Jews Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli Mizrahi Jews American Ashkenazi Jews 1975 births