Lucy Jane Bledsoe

{{Infobox writer

| name = Lucy Jane Bledsoe

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|2|1}}

| birth_place = Portland, Oregon, U.S.

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| occupation = Novelist, science writer

| nationality = American

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| genre = Fiction, nonfiction

| subject = LGBT literature, family relationships, adventure

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| website = {{URL|http://www.lucyjanebledsoe.com/index.htm}}

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Lucy Jane Bledsoe (born February 1, 1957, in Portland, Oregon{{cite book |last= Sleeman|first= Elizabeth|title= International Who's Who of Authors and Writers 2004|orig-year= 2004|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=phhhHT64kIMC&q=International+Who's+Who+of+Authors+and+Writers+2004|access-date= 31 July 2008|date= 2003-12-09|publisher= Routledge |isbn= 978-1-85743-179-7|pages= 59}}{{cite web|url=http://writester.net/stories/2005/05/14/interview-with-author-lucy-jane-bledsoe |title=Interview With Author Lucy Jane Bledsoe |access-date=2008-07-31 |work=Interview With Authors |publisher=Writester.net |date=May 14, 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012040824/http://writester.net/stories/2005/05/14/interview-with-author-lucy-jane-bledsoe/ |archive-date=October 12, 2008 }}) is an American novelist who often writes about the intersection of family, wilderness and survival.

She is a six-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award{{cite web |title=Current Finalists for the 20th Annual Lambda Literary Awards |url=http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current_finalists.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410225146/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/current_finalists.html |archive-date=2008-04-10 |access-date=2008-07-31 |publisher=Lambda Literary Foundation}} and a three-time finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award.

Biography

Bledsoe was born and raised in a large family in Portland, Oregon.{{cite web |date=9 June 2008 |title=Lucy Jane Bledsoe: Publications and Prizes |url=http://www.pw.org/content/lucy_jane_bledsoe_1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526014533/https://www.pw.org/content/lucy_jane_bledsoe_1 |archive-date=2011-05-26 |access-date=2008-07-31 |work=Directory of Writers |publisher=Poets & Writers}} Bledsoe has stated in interview that she started writing stories when she was young and had always wanted to become a writer. {{cite web|url=http://www.californiareaders.org/interviews/bledsoe_lucy.php|title=MEET LUCY BLEDSOE|author=O'Brian, Bonnie|publisher=California Readers|access-date=2008-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828212711/http://www.californiareaders.org/interviews/bledsoe_lucy.php|archive-date=2008-08-28|url-status=dead}} She was inspired to write professionally by her high school Language Arts teacher, and has cited among her influences James Baldwin, Willa Cather, Adrienne Rich, and Barbara Kingsolver.

Bledsoe's interest in Antarctica and wilderness survival began when Bledsoe was three years old, with a family visit to Oregon’s Mount Jefferson.{{Cite web |last=Bledsoe |first=Lucy Jane |title=Antarctica: The planet's imagination |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/4/21/antarctica-the-planets-imagination |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}} She later wrote about this formative experience in her 2006 memoir: The Ice Cave: A Woman’s Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-19 |title=10 travel books that focus on LGBTQ life |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/10-lgbtq-travel-adventures |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=Travel |language=en}}

Bledsoe began her activism in high school, campaigning for the Portland Public Schools to comply with Title IX. From 1975 to 1977, Bledsoe attended Williams College. She earned a B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley in 1979.

Bledsoe has written science curriculum for National Geographic and several other educational organizations, including the George Lucas Educational Foundation{{cn|date=August 2022}} and the SETI Institute. From 1997 to 2003, she taught creative writing in the Masters of Creative Writing Graduate Program at the University of San Francisco.{{cite web |title=A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic |url=http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/Presskits/Bledsoe_IceCave.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121215152403/http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/Presskits/Bledsoe_IceCave.html |archive-date=2012-12-15 |access-date=2008-07-31 |publisher=University of Wisconsin–Madison}}

Bledsoe has traveled to Antarctica three times; twice as a two-time recipient of the National Science Foundation’s Artists & Writers in Antarctica Fellowship and once as a guest on the Russian ship, the Akademik Sergey Vavilov. She is one of a handful of people who have stayed at all three American stations in Antarctica.{{Cite web |date=2019-12-17 |title=Lucy Jane Bledsoe's Antarctic Novel |url=https://www.ttbook.org/interview/lucy-jane-bledsoes-antarctic-novel |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=To The Best Of Our Knowledge}} As a social justice activist, she has most recently been working on voting rights.{{Cite web |title=Lucy Jane Bledsoe - Bio |url=https://www.lucyjanebledsoe.com/bio.htm |access-date=24 October 2024 |website=www.lucyjanebledsoe.com}}

Career and honors

In 1985, she received the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award.{{cite web|url= http://www.redroom.com/author/lucy-jane-bledsoe/bio|title= Lucy Jane Bledsoe's Biography|access-date= 2008-07-31|work= Red Room Writer Profile|publisher= Red Room|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090728051424/http://www.redroom.com/author/lucy-jane-bledsoe/bio|archive-date= 2009-07-28}} In 1995, Bledsoe published Sweat: Stories and a Novella, which helped her garner her first Lambda Literary Award finalist title.{{cite web |url= http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/previous_winners/paw_1992_1995.html|title= 1992 Lambda Literary Awards Recipients|access-date=2008-07-31 |work= Previous Lammy Award Winners|publisher= Lambda Literary Foundation|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080419023644/http://www.lambdaliterary.org/awards/previous_winners/paw_1992_1995.html |archive-date = 2008-04-19}} In 1997, she wrote her first adult novel Working Parts, for which she received the 1998 Stonewall Book Award - the American Library Association Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Award for Literature.{{cite web |url= http://www.ala.org/ala/glbtrt/stonewall/stonewallbook.cfm|title= Stonewall Book Awards|access-date=2008-07-31 |work= Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table (GLBTRT)|publisher= American Library Association|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080614232519/http://www.ala.org/ala/glbtrt/stonewall/stonewallbook.cfm |archive-date = 2008-06-14}} In 2002, Bledsoe was awarded a California Arts Council fellowship in literature.{{cite web |url=http://www.nwu.org/nwu/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.5.1.8.3 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070627050205/http://www.nwu.org/nwu/index.php?cmd=showPage&page_id=1.5.1.8.3 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-27 |title= Books by NWU Authors|access-date=2008-07-31 |work= Book Authors|publisher= National Writers' Union}}

Bledsoe's 2002 children's book Hoop Girlz, about a ten-year-old girl who loves playing basketball but doesn't make the school team, was selected as one of Booklist 's Top 10 Sports Books for Youth of the year and featured among Core Collection: Sports Fiction for Girls.[http://clcd.odyssi.com/cgi-bin/sirsi/search/r?dbs+child:@term+@isbn+0823416917 Children's Literature Reviews] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209225255/http://clcd.odyssi.com/cgi-bin/sirsi/search/r?dbs+child:@term+@isbn+0823416917 |date=2012-02-09 }}. Retrieved on 2008-08-01.

Bledsoe has written four books about Antarctica: The Big Bang Symphony; The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic; How to Survive in Antarctica; and The Antarctic Scoop.

Bledsoe's autobiographical young adult novel, No Stopping Us Now,{{Cite book |title=No Stopping Us Now |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58665979-no-stopping-us-now |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=Goodreads |isbn=978-1-953103-20-8 |language=en |last1=Bledsoe |first1=Lucy Jane |date=2022 |publisher=Three Rooms Press }} which is about love, basketball, and activism, was published in April 2022.

Bledsoe's books and stories have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German, and Dutch.{{cite web|url= http://www.glbthistory.org/news/writers_html/lucy.html|title= Lucy Jane Bledsoe|access-date= 2008-07-31|publisher= GLBT History|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080509191000/http://glbthistory.org/news/writers_html/lucy.html|archive-date= 2008-05-09}} She has been given two National Science Foundation artist and writers in Antarctica fellowships.{{cite web |url= https://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/aawr.jsp|title= Antarctic Artists & Writers Program — Past Participants|access-date=2008-07-31 |publisher= National Science Foundation|date= 26 September 2007}}{{cite web |url= https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2000/nsf0030/nsf0030html/antarctic_program_99_00.htm|title= U.S. Antarctic Program, 1999-2000|access-date=2008-07-31 |publisher= National Science Foundation}}

Bibliography

{{Col-break}}Books for adults

Sweat: Stories and a Novella, 1995.
Working Parts (novel), 1997.
This Wild Silence (novel), 2003.
The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic (nonfiction), 2006.
Biting the Apple (novel), 2007.
The Big Bang Symphony (novel), 2010.
A Thin Bright Line (novel), 2016.
The Evolution of Love (novel), 2018.
Lava Falls: Stories, 2018.
Tell the Rest (novel), 2023.