Francine Toon
{{Short description|British novelist and poet (born 1986)}}
Francine Toon (born 1986), also writing as Francine Elena, is a British writer.
Early life
Toon was born in Canterbury, England, in 1986, and moved to the Scottish Highlands, near Dornoch, at the age of nine after living in England and Portugal. After two years the family moved to St Andrews on the coast of Fife where Toon attended Madras College, where she won the Margaret Brown Medal for English in 2003.{{Cite web |title=Madras Trophies |url=http://www.madrascollegearchive.org.uk/Academic/Madras%20Trophies/cups/Margaret%20Brown%20Medal.htm |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.madrascollegearchive.org.uk}} She "returned regularly for holidays" to Sutherland "until she was into her late teens"{{cite news |last1=Didcock |first1=Barry |title=The young Gothic crime writer making a mark: Francine Toon, Bloody Scotland award-nominated author of Highland-set chiller Pine |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18554220.young-gothic-crime-writer-making-mark-francine-toon-bloody-scotland-award-nominated-author-highland-set-chiller-pine/ |access-date=25 January 2023 |work=HeraldScotland |date=4 July 2020 |language=en}} and "the northern wilds have haunted her ever since, and form the backdrop to her debut novel".{{cite news |last1=McAloon |first1=Jonathan |date=30 January 2020 |title=Francine Toon : 'Witches are empowered women' |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/30/francine-toon-pine-witches-are-empowered-women- |access-date=29 September 2022}} She attended Edinburgh University, where she wrote for The Student, before interning at Chambers Dictionaries. After university she moved to London to work in publishing. She was a commissioning editor at Sceptre, an imprint of Hachette, and then became an editor for The Novelry, a provider of online writing courses.{{cite web |title=Francine Toon: editor |url=https://www.thenovelry.com/coaching/francine-toon |website=www.thenovelry.com |publisher=The Novelry |access-date=18 June 2023 |language=en}}
Writing
Her debut novel, Pine, won the 2020 McIlvanney Prize for "the best Scottish crime book of the year",{{cite web |title=The McIlvanney Prize |url=https://bloodyscotland.com/take-part/the-mcilvanney-prize/ |publisher=Bloody Scotland |access-date=29 September 2022}} and was shortlisted for the 2020 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize{{Cite web |publisher=Bloody Scotland |title=The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize shortlist 2020 |url=https://bloodyscotland.com/prizes/debut-prize-shortlist-2020/ |access-date=25 January 2023|language=en-GB}} and longlisted for the Highland Book Prize and the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award. The Guardian
Her poetry, written under the name Francine Elena, has appeared in publications including The Best British Poetry 2013,{{cite web |title=The Best British Poetry 2013 By Ahren Warner |url=https://www.wob.com/en-gb/books/ahren-warner/best-british-poetry-2013/9781907773556 |website=www.wob.com |publisher=World of Books |access-date=25 January 2023}} The Best British Poetry 2015,{{Cite web |title=Best British Poetry 2015 |url=https://www.saltpublishing.com/products/best-british-poetry-2015-9781784630300 |access-date=25 January 2023 |website=Salt |language=en}} The Sunday Times,{{Cite news |work=The Sunday Times|date=12 July 2015 |title=Ode to a 1980s Baton Twirling World Champion by Francine Elena |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/ode-to-a-1980s-baton-twirling-world-champion-by-francine-elena-q20cr787rh3 |access-date=25 January 2023 }} Poetry London,{{Cite magazine|work=Poetry London|date=Spring 2015|issue=80 |title=Contents|url=https://poetrylondon.co.uk/shop/spring-2015-issue-80/ |access-date=25 January 2023 |language=en}} Ambit,{{Cite web |title=No. 220, Spring 2015 of Ambit on JSTOR |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40181617 |access-date=25 January 2023|website=www.jstor.org |language=en}} The Honest Ulsterman,{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Poetry: Four poems by Francine Elena |url=https://humag.co/poetry/four-poems-by-francine-elena |website=Honest Ulsterman |access-date=29 September 2022 |language=en}} The Quietus,{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Karl |title=Tome On The Range: Two Poems By: Francine Elena |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/14018-two-poems-by-francine-elena |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=The Quietus |date=1 December 2013 |language=en-us}} and Wasafiri.{{cite news |title=Wasafiri Issue 83 |url=https://www.wasafiri.org/product/wasafiri-issue-83/ |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=Wasafiri Magazine}} She has interviewed other poets, including Mark Waldron for Prac Crit.{{cite news |title='I am lordly, puce and done,' – interview by Francine Elena |url=http://www.praccrit.com/interviews/i-am-lordly-puce-and-done-interview-by-francine-toon/ |access-date=29 September 2022 |work=Prac Crit |date=November 2014}}
References
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External links
- {{official website|https://www.francinetoon.com/}}
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Category:21st-century British poets
Category:21st-century British novelists
Category:Writers from Canterbury
Category:People from Highland (council area)
Category:People educated at Madras College
Category:People from Sutherland
Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Category:Scottish women writers
Category:Scottish book editors