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Tamora Pierce

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Tamora Pierce (born December 13, 1954) is an American writer of fantasy fiction for teenagers, known best for stories featuring young heroines. She made a name for herself with her first book series, The Song of the Lioness (1983–1988), which followed the main character Alanna through the trials and triumphs of training as a knight.

Pierce won the Margaret A. Edwards Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) of the American Library Association in 2013, citing her two quartets Song of the Lioness and Protector of the Small (1999–2002). The annual award recognizes one writer and a particular body of work for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature".<ref name=edwards/>

Pierce's books have been translated into twenty languages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life and education

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Pierce was born in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania in Fayette County, on December 13, 1954 to Wayne and Mary Lou Pierce.<ref>Pierce, Tamora. "Acknowledgments." Power in the Storm, The. Scholastic Press (1999)</ref> Her mother wanted to name her "Tamara" but the nurse who filled out her birth certificate misspelled it as "Tamora".<ref name=Pierce>Template:Cite web</ref> When she was five, her sister Kimberly (on whom she based Alanna)<ref>Bonnie Kunzel & Susan Fichtelberg Tamora Pierce: A Student Companion, Hardcover, Greenwood Press, 2007</ref> was born and a year later her second sister, Melanie, was born. From the time she was five until she was eight, she lived in Dunbar. In June 1963 she and her family moved to California. They first lived in San Mateo on El Camino Real and then moved to the other side of the San Francisco Peninsula, in Miramar. They lived in Miramar for half a year, in El Granada a full year, and then three years in Burlingame.

She began reading when she was very young and started writing when she was in the sixth grade. Her interest in fantasy and science fiction began when she was introduced to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and so she started to write the kind of books that she was reading. After her parents divorced, her mother moved her and her sisters back to Fayette County in 1969, where she spent two years at Albert Gallatin Senior High. When her family moved again, she spent her senior year at Uniontown Area Senior High School, acting, singing, and writing for the school paper. She is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Career

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While at the University of Pennsylvania, Pierce wrote the books that became The Song of the Lioness quartet. The first book of this quartet, Alanna: The First Adventure was published by Atheneum Books in 1983.

Pierce lived with her husband Tim Liebe (Spouse-Creature) in New York City, with their four cats and multiple other pets, until they moved to Syracuse, New York.<ref>Pierce, Tamora. "Acknowledgments." Bloodhound: Beka Cooper Book Two. New York: Random House Children's Books (2009). p 551.</ref>

In 2008, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pierce was also actively involved in moderating and discussing her novels on a message board called Sheroes Central from about 2001-2006, at which point it was acquired by a third party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Writing process

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On her homepage, Pierce states she gets most ideas from things she stumbles upon. Her concept of magic as a tapestry of threads comes from her experiences in crocheting, and in her world, all mages are somehow based on British naturalist David Attenborough after watching his nature documentaries. Fantasy novels and Arthurian legend were the base of the worlds she thought up as a girl, and later she added contemporary issues like youth crime and cholera outbreaks in Africa. In general, Pierce states: "The best way to prepare to have ideas when you need them is to listen to and encourage your obsessions."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pierce draws on elements of people and animals around her for inspiration. The character of Alanna is loosely based on Pierce's sister.<ref name="bio">Template:Cite web</ref> Thayet's appearance is based on a friend of Pierce's. Beka's pigeon friends in Provost's Dog are all based on actual pigeons of Pierce's acquaintance.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Pierce first started writing to escape from the drama of her parents' divorce. She wrote fan fiction based on her favorite stories, imitating them closely.<ref name="bio" /> Pierce says she decided to write her stories about strong female characters because she noticed a lack of them in the books she read when she was young.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Nominee/Work Category Result Ref
2011 Goodreads Choice Awards Mastiff Best Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2003 Locus Award Lady Knight Best Young Adult Book Template:Nom<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2004 Trickster's Choice Template:Nom<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2012 Mastiff Template:Nom<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2013 Margaret Edwards Award The Song of the Lioness Series Template:N/A Template:Won <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Protector of the Small Series Template:N/A Template:Won
2000 Mythopoeic Awards Circle of Magic Series Best Fantasy Series Template:Nom <ref name="first">Template:Cite web</ref>
2012 Beka Cooper Series Template:Nom
2005 Skylark Award Tamora Pierce Template:N/a Template:Won <ref name="first"/>

Accolades

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Year-end lists
Year Publication Work Category Result Ref
2012 NPR Circle of Magic Series 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels 86 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Immortals Series 83
Trickster's Choice Duology 81
The Song of the Lioness Series 50
2018 Paste Trickster's Queen The 50 Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far) 17 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2019 Trickster's Choice Duology 10 Exceptional Audiobooks Written and Narrated by Women 4 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2020 Time Alanna: The First Adventure 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time Template:N/a <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Works

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Merchandise

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In November 2018, the first line of officially licensed merchandise was created in partnership with Dual Wield Studio: pins, apparel and accessories developed in collaboration with creators from the Tamora Pierce fanbase.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The collection expanded in 2020 to include a rendition of the map of Tortall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At the end of 2023, Dual Wield Studio announced a new collection celebrating the 40th anniversary of Alanna: The First Adventure.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

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Other sources

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