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 b ...

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 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

—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. Bo ...

. She studied at

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

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 w ...

. 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 cr ...

'', 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 ...

'' 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 Jewish family, Carter graduated from Brown University in 1953 with a degree in French literature. He served in the Coast G ...

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 unde ...

'' 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 ...

, 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 indi ...

(2006)

References

External links

margolis.comlettre-ulysses-award.orgAdrian Nicole LeBlanc on NPR about ''Random Family''Adrian Nicole LeBlanc websiteRobert 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