Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner (born December 22, 1960), is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Early life

Gloeckner was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Her mother was a librarian and her father, David Gloeckner, was a commercial illustrator. Her father's family was

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and she attended Quaker schools when she was young. She has a younger sister. Gloeckner's parents divorced when she was 4 years old. In 1972, when she was 11 or 12 years old, her mother remarried and the family moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. She attended several Bay Area schools, including The Urban School of San Francisco and

Lick-Wilmerding High School Lick-Wilmerding High School is a private college-preparatory high school located in San Francisco, California, United States. History Lick-Wilmerding High School was founded on September 21, 1874 as the California School of Mechanical Arts by a ...

. She was a boarding student at

Castilleja ''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one ...

(in Palo Alto) for a year, but returned to San Francisco to live with her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and her sister, when she was 14. Gloeckner began cartooning at the age of 12. Because her mother was dating Robert Armstrong, a cartoonist in

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

's band

Cheap Suit Serenaders R. Crumb and his Cheap Suit Serenaders are an American retro string band playing songs from, and in the style of, the 1920s: old-time music, ragtime, "evergreen" jazz standards, western swing, country blues, Hawaiian music, Hawaiian, hokum, vaudev ...

, she met many San Francisco

underground comics Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

figures who had a profound influence upon her, including

Aline Kominsky Aline Kominsky-Crumb (née Goldsmith; August 1, 1948 – November 29, 2022) was an American underground comics artist. Kominsky-Crumb's work, which is almost exclusively autobiographical, is known for its unvarnished, confessional nature. In 201 ...

Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited to ...

Terry Zwigoff Terry Zwigoff (born May 18, 1949) is an American filmmaker whose work often deals with misfits, antiheroes, and themes of alienation. He first garnered attention for his work in documentary filmmaking with ''Louie Bluie'' (1985) and '' Crumb'' (1 ...

, and

Diane Noomin Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...

. Gloeckner attended

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

from 1980 to 1985, where she was a pre-med student and studied French and art. She spent the 1983–1984 academic year in

Université d’Aix-Marseille Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 14 ...

studying art, French, and biology, and from 1984 to 1985 spent about six months studying Czech and literature at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. She has an M.A. in Biomedical Communications from

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a public academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient vi ...

, which she received in 1988. The degree was in

medical illustration A medical illustration is a form of biological illustration that helps to record and disseminate medical, anatomical, and related knowledge. History Medical illustrations have been made possibly since the beginning of medicine in any case for h ...

. Her 1987 dissertation was on the "Semiotic Analysis of Medical Illustration," in which she studies narrative devices used in medical and surgical illustration. Gloeckner became interested in medical illustration through her maternal grandfather, an antique dealer who collected and sold old books, and her paternal grandmother, Dr. Louise Carpenter Gloeckner, who was a physician in Philadelphia and was the first woman to be elected vice president of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's state ...

Career

Gloeckner worked prolifically as a medical illustrator since 1988, and her training is evident in her paintings and comics art, which are highly detailed and often prominently feature the human body. Her first prominent work in fiction publishing, a series of illustrations for the

RE/Search RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

edition of

J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass medi ...

's novel ''

The Atrocity Exhibition ''The Atrocity Exhibition'' is an experimental novel of linked stories or "condensed novels" by British writer J. G. Ballard. The book was originally published in the UK in 1970 by Jonathan Cape. After a 1970 edition by Doubleday & Company ...

'', used clinical images of internal anatomy, sex, and physical trauma in ambiguous and evocative combinations. Her early

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

work, in the form of short stories published in a variety of

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

anthologies including ''

Wimmen's Comix ''Wimmen's Comix'', later titled ''Wimmin's Comix'', is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genres and subject matters, ''Wimmen's Comix'' focused more than other an ...

'', '' Weirdo'', ''Young Lust'', and '' Twisted Sisters'', and in the tabloid zine,

(numbered volumes), was sporadic and rarely seen until the 1998 release of the collection ''A Child's Life and Other Stories''. This was followed by her 2002 graphic novel '' The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures'', which revisited the troubled life of the young character (usually referred to as "Minnie Goetze") previously featured in some of her comics, this time in an unusual combination of prose, illustration, and short comics scenes. Her novel and many of her short stories are semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, a frequent cause of comment due to their depiction of sex, drug use, and childhood traumas; however, Gloeckner has stated that she regards them as fiction. Sexual content led to ''A Child's Life and Other Stories'' being banned from the public library in Stockton,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, after it was checked out by an 11-year-old reader. The mayor of Stockton called the book "a how-to book for pedophiles." The graphic novel was also classified as pornography and refused entry by customs officials in both France and England. Less controversial, and actually intended for children, is the book ''Weird Things You Can Grow'', published by Random House, and books in the series beginning with ''Tales Too Funny to be True'' published by HarperCollins, for which she did the illustrations. A

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

of ''The Diary of a Teenage Girl'' premiered at the

2015 Sundance Film Festival The 2015 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 22 to February 1, 2015. ''What Happened, Miss Simone?'', a biographical documentary film about American singer Nina Simone, opened the festival. Comedy-drama film ''Grandma'', directed by Pa ...

. The film was acquired by

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produc ...

at the festival. Adapted and directed by

Marielle Heller Marielle Stiles Heller (born October 1, 1979) is an American writer, director, and actress. She is best known for directing the films '' The Diary of a Teenage Girl'' (2015), ''Can You Ever Forgive Me?'' (2018), and ''A Beautiful Day in the Nei ...

, it is based on Heller's earlier stage adaptation. The film stars

Alexander Skarsgård Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (; born August 25, 1976) is a Swedish actor. Born in Stockholm, he began acting at age seven but quit at 13. After serving in the Swedish military, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in th ...

as Monroe,

Kristen Wiig Kristen Carroll Wiig (; born August 22, 1973) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Canandaigua, New York, she was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York. She moved to Los Angeles, where she joi ...

as Charlotte, and

Bel Powley Isobel Dorothy Powley (born 7 March 1992) is an English actress. Powley was born and raised in London, where she was educated at Holland Park School. She began acting as a teenager on television, starring on the CBBC action television series '' ...

as the main character, Minnie Goetze. Heller developed the script at the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers f ...

's Sundance Feature Film Program Lab. The film won "Best First Feature" at the 2016 Spirit Awards. Gloeckner briefly taught courses at Suffolk Community College and

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

. Gloeckner is an associate professor at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Stamps School of Art & Design, a position she has held since 2010. In recognition of her contributions to the comic art form,

Comics Alliance ComicsAlliance was an American website dedicated to covering the comic book industry as well as comic-related media, and is owned by Townsquare Media. The site has been nominated for multiple awards including a 2015 Eisner Award win in the catego ...

listed Gloeckner as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition.

Personal life

In 1986, Gloeckner married Czech artist Jakub Kalousek. They later divorced. She has two daughters, Audrey "Fina" Gloeckner-Kalousek and Persephone Gloeckner-Kalousek.

Awards

* 2000:

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...

* 2008:

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

working on research for a graphic novel about families living in

Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Ju� ...

; project inspired by experiences in Ciudad Juarez while researching her story in the 2008 book, ''I Live Here'' * 2015-2016: Faculty Fellow in the

Institute for the Humanities working on “The Return of Maldoror”

Works and publications

Monographs

* Gloeckner, Phoebe, and Robert Crumb (introduction). ''A Child's Life and Other Stories.'' Berkeley, CA: Frog (imprint of North Atlantic Books), 1998. Revised edition, 2000. * Gloeckner, Phoebe. '' The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures.'' Berkeley, Calif: Frog (imprint of North Atlantic Books), 2002. Revised edition, 2015.

As contributing author/artist

* "RE/Search" tabloid zine #2 and #3. San Francisco:

RE/Search Publications RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

, 1980–81. * Kirshner, Mia, Mike Simons, and Paul Shoebridge. "I Live Here." NY: Pantheon Graphic Novels, 2008.

Journals

* Gloeckner, Phoebe. "Autobiography: The Process Negates the Term." Chaney, Michael A. ''Graphic Subjects: Critical Essays on Autobiography and Graphic Novels.'' Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. * Gloeckner, Phoebe, Justin Green, Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Carol Tyler. 2014.
Panel: Comics and Autobiography
. ''Critical Inquiry.'' 40, no. 3: Comics & Media. The University of Chicago Press. Edited by Hillary Chute and Patrick Jagoda: Spring 2014. pp. 86–103. ] * Gloeckner, Phoebe. 2014.
Valiente and Arpía
. ''Critical Inquiry.'' 40, no. 3: Comics & Media. The University of Chicago Press. Edited by Hillary Chute and Patrick Jagoda: Spring 2014. pp. 182–186. * Gloeckner, Phoebe.
Author Guillermo Paxton: An Interview with "El Guëro de Juárez".
' 2015.

Children's books

* Goldenberg, Janet, and Phoebe Gloeckner. ''Weird Things You Can Grow.'' New York: Random House, 1994. * Goldenberg, Janet, and Phoebe Gloeckner. ''Weird But True: A Cartoon Encyclopedia of Incredibly Strange Things.'' New York: HarperTrophy, 1997. * Daly-Weir, Catherine, and Phoebe Gloeckner. ''The Exploding Toilet and Other Tales Too Funny to Be True.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1998. * Busby, Cylin, and Phoebe Gloeckner. ''The Chicken-Fried Rat: Tales Too Gross to Be True.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1998. * Gilson, Kristin, and Phoebe Gloeckner. ''The Baby-Sitter's Nightmare: Tales Too Scary to Be True.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1998.

Illustration work

* Ballard, J. G. ''The Atrocity Exhibition.'' San Francisco, CA: RE/Search, RE/Search Publications, 1990. * Juno, Andrea, and V. Vale, editors. ''Angry Women.'' San Francisco, CA: RE/Search Publications, 1991. 13. Revised edition. New York, NY: Juno Books, 1999. * Spinrad, Paul. ''The RE/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids.'' San Francisco, CA: RE/Search Publications, 1999. * Winks, Cathy, Anne Semans, and Cathy Winks. ''The Good Vibrations Guide to Sex: The Most Complete Sex Manual Ever Written.'' San Francisco: Cleis Press, 2002.

References

External links

Ravenblond
official website
''Michigan Daily'' allegations of racism, transphobia, and sexual assault
(June 25, 2022) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gloeckner, Phoebe 1960 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women cartoonists American comics writers American women novelists Living people Medical illustrators Underground cartoonists University of Michigan faculty Female comics writers American female comics artists Artists from Philadelphia 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Michigan Inkpot Award winners American cartoonists American women academics Castilleja School alumni