Holly Black

Holly Black
Black in 2020
Black in 2020
BornHolly Riggenbach
(1971-11-10) November 10, 1971 (age 53)
West Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
  • Writer
  • editor
  • producer
CitizenshipU.S.
EducationThe College of New Jersey (BA)
Rutgers University
Periodc. 2000–present
GenreChildren's, young adult literature, short stories, fantasy, horror
Spouse
Theo Black
​
(m. 1999)​
Website
blackholly.com

Holly Black (née Riggenbach;[1] born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales.[2] Black has won a Lodestar Award, a Nebula Award, and a Newbery Honor.

Early life and education

Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey[1] in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house."[3] She graduated from Shore Regional High School in 1990.[4] Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University. She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away. She edited and contributed to the role-playing culture magazine d8 in 1996.[5] Some of the inspiration to write young-adult fiction came from authors such as Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce and Francesca Lia Block.[6] In regards to the fairy tale aspect of her work, she was inspired by creators such as Tanith Lee, Angela Carter, Terri Windling, Ellen Datlow, Pamela Dean, Ellen Kushner, Charles de Lint and Emma Bull.[6]

In 1999, she married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, an illustrator and web designer.[1] In 2008, she was described as residing in Amherst, Massachusetts.[7]

Literary career

Black at the National Book Festival in 2022

Modern Faerie Tales

Black's first novel, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002. There have been two sequels set in the same universe featuring different casts. The first, Valiant (2005), won the inaugural Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. By vote of Locus readers for the Locus Awards, Valiant and Ironside (2007) ranked fourth and sixth among the year's young-adult books.[8]

The Spiderwick Chronicles

In 2003, Black published the first two books of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a collaboration with artist Tony DiTerlizzi. The fifth and last book in the series reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller list in 2004.[9] A film adaptation of the series was released in 2008,[10] of which Black was co-executive producer.[11]

The Curse Workers

White Cat, the first in her Curse Workers Series, was published in 2010. White Cat was followed by Red Glove (2011) and the trilogy concluded with Black Heart in 2012. In 2011, Black stated that the Curse Workers books had been optioned by Vertigo Pictures and producer Mark Morgan.[12]

Magisterium

In 2012, Scholastic acquired a five-book series written by Black and Cassandra Clare to be called Magisterium. Its first volume, The Iron Trial, was published on September 9, 2014.[13] The final book in the series, The Golden Tower, was published in 2018.

The Folk of the Air

The Cruel Prince, first book of The Folk of the Air published in 2017, was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Locus Award[14] and the Lodestar Award.[citation needed] The sequel, The Wicked King (2018), debuted at the No. 1 position of the New York Times Bestseller List[15] and was also nominated for the Lodestar Award.[16] The Queen of Nothing released in November 2019. With that release the series debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Bestseller List.[17]

Black was interviewed regarding the Folk of the Air series for an article in the March 2024 issue of BookPage magazine before the publication of her 2024 novel The Prisoner's Throne.[18] She discussed the themes of the series with interviewer Jessica Peng. When asked whether or not she anticipated writing the Stolen Heir duology after the Folk of the Air series was published, Black replied, "When I got to Queen of Nothing, I realized I wanted to write about Oak and Suren at some point in the future... I don't think knowing that I wanted to revisit those characters changed the course of anything in the Folk of the Air books, but perhaps I did think of them a little more because of it".[19]

Standalones

A standalone novel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, was released by Little, Brown and Company in September 2013.[20] Black published a short story of the same name in the vampire anthology The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was an Andre Norton Award finalist in 2013.[21]

Doll Bones was published in May 2013, and was awarded a Newbery Medal[22][23] and a Mythopoeic Award.[24]

The Darkest Part of the Forest was published in 2015.

Her first adult fiction novel Book of Night was released in May 2022 by Tor Books.[25]

Black has also written dozens of short works and co-edited at least three anthologies of speculative fiction.[26][27][28]

Bibliography

Adult novels

Book of Night Duology
  • Book of Night (2022)
  • Thief of Night (2025)

Young adult novels

The Modern Faerie Tales
The Curse Workers
The Folk of the Air
  • The Cruel Prince (2018)
  • The Lost Sisters (2018, companion novella)
  • The Wicked King (2019)[29]
  • The Queen of Nothing (2019)[30]
  • How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (2020, companion novella)
Novels of Elfhame
  • The Stolen Heir (2023)
  • The Prisoner's Throne (2024)[18]
Standalone

Middle grade novels

The Spiderwick Chronicles, Black and Tony DiTerlizzi
  • The Field Guide (2003)
  • The Seeing Stone (2003)
  • Lucinda's Secret (2003)
  • The Ironwood Tree (2004)
  • The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004)
  • Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles
    • The Nixie's Song (2007)
    • A Giant Problem (2008)
    • The Wyrm King (2009)
  • Accompanying books
    • Arthur Spiderwick's Notebook of Fantastical Observations (2005)
    • Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005)
    • The Spiderwick Chronicles: Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006)
Magisterium, Black and Cassandra Clare, illus. Scott Fischer
Standalone
  • Doll Bones (2013, Newbery Medal Honor book), illus. Eliza Wheeler
  • Heart of the Moors: An Original Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Novel (2019)

Graphic novels and comics

The Good Neighbors, illus. Ted Naifeh
  • The Good Neighbors: Kin (2008)
  • The Good Neighbors: Kith (2009)
  • The Good Neighbors: Kind (2010)
Lucifer
  • Lucifer vol. 1: Cold Heaven (2016, trade paperback)
  • Lucifer vol. 2: Father Lucifer (2017, trade paperback)
  • Lucifer vol. 3: Blood in the Streets (2017, trade paperback)

Picture books

  • Sir Morien: The Legend of a Knight of the Round Table, Black and Kaliis Smith (2023), illus. Ebony Glenn

Short fiction

Collections
  • The Poison Eaters and Other Stories (2010), illus. Theo Black
Short stories
  • "Hades and Persephone" (1997) in Prisoners of the Night
  • "The Night Market" (2004) in The Faery Reel: Tales from a Twilight Realm
  • "Heartless" (2005) in Young Warriors: Stories of Strength
  • "Going Ironside" (2007) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts
  • "In Vodka Veritas" (2007) in 21 Proms
  • "Reversal of Fortune" (2007) in The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales
  • "The Poison Eaters" (2007), The Restless Dead: Ten Original Stories of the Supernatural, ed. Deborah Noyes
  • "Paper Cuts Scissors" (October 2007) in Realms of Fantasy
  • "The Coat of Stars" (2007) in So Fey
  • "Virgin" (2008) in Magic in the Mirrorstone
  • "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" (2009) in Troll's Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales
  • "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" (2009) in The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire
  • "A Very Short Story" (2009) in Half-Minute Horrors
  • "The Dog King" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
  • "The Land of Heart's Desire" (2010) in The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
  • "The Arn Thompson Classification Review" (2010) in Full Moon City
  • "Sobek" (2010) in Wings of Fire
  • "Lot 558: Shadow of My Nephew by Wells, Charlotte" (2011) in The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities.
  • "Everything Amiable and Obliging" (2011) in Steampunk!
  • "The Perfect Dinner Party" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Teeth
  • "The Rowan Gentleman" (with Cassandra Clare, 2011) in Welcome to Bordertown
  • "Noble Rot" (2011) in Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy
  • "Coat of Stars" (2012) in Bloody Fabulous
  • "Little Gods" (2012) in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron
  • "Millcara" (2013) in Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales
  • "Sisters Before Misters" (2014) (with Sarah Rees Brennan and Cassandra Clare) in Dark Duets: All-New Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy
  • "Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind)" (2014) in Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales
  • "1UP" (2015) in Press Start to Play
  • "The Honest Folk" (2024) in Faeries Never Lie: Tales to Revel In

Anthologies edited

Poetry

  • "The Third Third: Israfel's Tale" (1996) in d8 Magazine
  • "Bone Mother" (Autumn 2004) in Endicott Journal of Mythic Arts

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c Locus (May 2006), "Holly Black: Through the Maze", Locus, 56, 5 (544): 84, archived from the original on June 12, 2018, retrieved December 13, 2007
  2. ^ "The Modern Faerie Tales Archives". Holly Black. Archived from the original on January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  3. ^ Black, Holly, About Holly, archived from the original on November 5, 2007, retrieved December 13, 2007
  4. ^ "Oh, the Places They've Gone; Shore Regional Graduates Area making Exciting Marks on the World" Archived February 5, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, The Shoreline, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2023. "Holly Black nee Riggenbach ('90) After finishing her BA at the College of New Jersey in 1994, Holly Riggenbach almost got a library science degree from Rutgers."
  5. ^ "d8 Magazine (Issue 5 – 1996)". RPGGeek. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Gale.com". shibboleth.gale.com. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  7. ^ "Author's fairy tale comes true" Archived November 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Edmonton Journal, February 14, 2008. Retrieved February 20, 2008. "Today, Holly lives in West Long Branch, New Jersey with her husband of 10 years, working as a full-time writer and an avid collector of rare folklore volumes, spooky dolls and outrageous hats."
  8. ^ "sfadb : Locus Awards All Nominees". sfadb.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  9. ^ "BEST SELLERS: September 26, 2004". The New York Times. September 26, 2004. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  10. ^ "The Spiderwick Chronicles". IMDb. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  11. ^ The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) – IMDb, retrieved February 13, 2024
  12. ^ "'Spiderwick' Author Holly Black Gets Unexcited For 'White Cat' Movie". MTV Hollywood Crush. May 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  13. ^ "Scholastic Acquires Five-Book Middle Grade Series by Bestselling Authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare". Scholastic. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  14. ^ locusmag (June 29, 2019). "2019 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  15. ^ "Young Adult Hardcover Books – Best Sellers – Books – Jan. 27, 2019 – The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 12, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  16. ^ "2020 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. April 7, 2020. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  17. ^ "Children's Series Books – Best Sellers – Books – Dec. 8, 2019 – The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Black, Holly (2024). The Prisoner's Throne. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0316592710.
  19. ^ Peng, Jessica. "Faerie riddles and family loyalty". BookPage (MAR 2024): 8.
  20. ^ "Fall 2013 Sneak Previews". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  21. ^ Fictions, 2019 Science; America, Fantasy Writers of; SFWA, Inc; Fiction, Nebula Awards are registered trademarks of Science; America, Fantasy Writers of; SFWA, Inc Opinions expressed on this web site are not necessarily those of. "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown". The Nebula Awards. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020. {{cite web}}: |first3= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "And the Newbery, Caldecott award winners are ..." Archived August 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, Ashley Strickland, CNN, January 27, 2014.
  23. ^ Doll Bones. Simon and Schuster. May 7, 2013. ISBN 9781416963981. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2013.
  24. ^ a b "Mythopoeic Awards". Mythopoeic Society. Archived from the original on October 5, 2014. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  25. ^ "Book of Night by Holly Black". Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  26. ^ "Welcome to Bordertown – Holly Black". blackholly.com. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  27. ^ "Zombies vs. Unicorns – Holly Black". blackholly.com. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  28. ^ "Geektastic: Tales from the Nerd Herd – Holly Black". blackholly.com. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  29. ^ The Wicked King. March 6, 2018. ISBN 9781549171314. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  30. ^ Black, Holly (March 12, 2019). Queen of Nothing. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316310406. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  31. ^ Parkin, Lisa (September 10, 2013). "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown Author Holly Black on Vampires, Vine & Violence". HuffPost. Archived from the original on September 4, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  32. ^ "sfadb : Andre Norton Award". sfadb.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  33. ^ LSCHULTE (January 2, 2015). "2014 Newbery Medal and Honor Books". Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). Archived from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
  34. ^ "ABA Announces 2015 Indies Choice and E.B. White Award Winners". the American Booksellers Association. April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
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