About me . . .
Phoebe North, a graduate of the University of Florida’s MFA program in poetry, is the critically acclaimed author of Starglass and Starbreak. A new novel will be forthcoming from HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray in 2021.
North was a finalist in 2018 with the Sustainable Arts Foundation. Other short fiction, critical work, and poetry has appeared or is forthcoming with Analog, Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction Magazine, the YA Review Network, Umbrella Journal, District Lit, 2river View and Strange Horizons (among others), and in anthologies such as the 2015 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, Among the Shadows and Speculative Fiction 2015. North was named a 2013 Flying Start from Publisher’s Weekly.
Writing from a home in the Hudson Valley, they also enjoy gardening, spending time with family, listening to obscure music on outdated formats, and fighting off the fear of death by curating an astonishingly comprehensive social media presence.
NAME: Phoebe North
CITY: New Paltz, NY
BIRTHDAY: December 26, 1983
PRONOUS: they/them
EMAIL: phoebe@phoebenorth.com
WEBSITE: www.phoebenorth.com
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Teaching & public speaking
North is an experienced mentor of writing, with one-on-one and large classroom experience. They work with a variety of ages, from kindergartners to adults, to improve confidence with the written word. They are available for teaching and public speaking engagements. Contact them to learn more.
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Editing
Previously an editor and copyeditor for Strange Horizons, an award-winning science fiction magazine, and a writing instructor at the University of Florida, North is available for editorial services and sensitivity reads on a variety of topics.
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Writing
A sensitive writer of literary and children’s fiction, as well as an astute crafter of media commentary and literary criticism, North tackles the world with empathy, insight, and humor.
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Social Media
With over two decades of experience in the online sphere, North has utilized social media spaces since their early teens. They know how to create a winning social media post for Medium, Instagram, Facebook, and more.
Praise for Starglass, Starbreak, and more . . .
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"Starglass is a richly imagined, beautifully written book. It’s science fiction, mystery, and coming of age story all wrapped into one; creative but also firmly grounded in a real human experience, with all its loss, pain, and disillusionment—but also beauty, hope, and belonging. A wonderful story." - #1 NY Times bestselling author Veronica Roth2012
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"While there are certainly strong science-fiction overtones and dystopian influences, the claustrophobic nature of the ship grounds the characterization. This book offers an excellent resource to support diversity as marriage equality and LGBT issues are a dominant factor in the narrative, making it more interesting than many similar titles." - School Library Journal2013
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* "This absorbing page-turner [avoids] the clichéd extremes of much recent young adult science fiction...Terra herself is equal parts strength and vulnerability, neither preternaturally heroic nor innately naïve. Genuinely surprising revelations near the end and a lack of resolution suggest probable sequels to this first-rate science fiction novel, a worthy successor for Revis’ Across the Universe." - Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books2013
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"Starbreak successfully combines sensuous, forbidden romance with hard science fiction elements like first contact, strange planets, and politics." - VOYA2014
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"The author makes the inherently fantastic idea of time travel seem very real. The past comes to life in vivid detail. The plot deals with the important theme of the consequences of one's actions, with characters with whom the reader can fully empathize." - Tangent Online2019
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review for Starglass
* In this gripping dystopian/generation-ship hybrid, the Asherah, centuries into its journey with less than a thousand souls on board, is mere months from making landfall. Its destination is the planet Zehava, where the largely Jewish crew hopes to survive long after the Earth was destroyed by an asteroid strike (one of the starship’s express goals is ‘the survival of Jewish traditions and culture even in the diaspora of space’). Life aboard is difficult, strictly regulated by the ruling Council and the necessities of scarcity. Fifteen-year-old Terra Fineberg is deeply bitter about her limited choices, both in terms of her profession, which will be chosen for her, and her potential suitors. Then she witnesses a murder and discovers a slogan carved into a tree, ‘Liberty on Earth. Liberty on Zehava,’ and becomes enmeshed in a dangerous conspiracy to overthrow the Council. North eloquently depicts a culture trapped in a cycle of ritual and duty; the colonists’ efforts to preserve their heritage unfold in fascinating, sometimes disturbing ways. This richly textured first novel deserves to be widely read. Ages 12–up.
Get in touch . . .
Phoebe is represented by Victoria Marini of the Irene Goodman agency. For film and media rights, contact Randie Adler of International Creative Management.
Let’s be friends! Feel free to follow Phoebe on social media by clicking on the icons below.
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