Francesca Lia Block is an American writer of adult and young-adult literature, born on December 3, 1962. She is renowned for writing the Weetzie Bat series, which she began while studying at UC Berkeley. Francesca is the author of more than twenty-five books spanning fiction, non-fiction, short stories, and poetry.

She has received numerous accolades including the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award, and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award. Her works have been acknowledged by the American Library Association, the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal, and Publisher’s Weekly.

In 2014, she was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College. Her work has been translated into several languages including Italian, French, German, Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Portuguese. Francesca has also contributed stories, poems, essays, and interviews to The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock, and Rattle.