Vanessa Diffenbaugh (born 1978) is the American author of the novel The Language of Flowers and the nonfiction A Victorian Flower Dictionary.
Vanessa Diffenbaugh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1978 (age 45–46) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Spouse | PK Diffenbaugh |
| Website | |
| vanessadiffenbaugh | |
Biography
editDiffenbaugh was born in San Francisco and raised in Chico, California. After studying creative writing and education at Stanford, she went on to teach art and writing to youth in low-income communities.[1]
During her time at Stanford, she began mentoring two sisters. The sisters were placed into Diffenbaugh's custody at age 23, but unable to care for them surrendered them to the foster care system. The experience inspired Diffenbaugh and her husband to become foster care parents in 2007.[2] In 2010, she founded of the Camellia Network, a nonprofit organization intended to create a nationwide movement to support youth transitioning from foster care.[3][4] In 2015, the network was acquired by the non-profit Youth Villages.[4]
Her 2011 book, The Language of Flowers, stayed 69 weeks on the New York Times’ best-seller list and was translated into 42 languages.[2] The novel follows the fraught life of Victoria Jones, who by the age of 18, had lived in 32 foster homes, and becomes a flower arranger.[5] The novel was inspired by a flower dictionary, a type of Victorian-era book which defines what different types of flowers mean.[6] She also published a new non-fiction A Victorian Flower Dictionary to accompany the novel.[5] In 2019, it was announced there will be a film adaptation of the novel starring Nick Robinson and Kiersey Clemons.[7]
In 2014, Diffenbaugh and her family moved to Monterey, California from Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1][2]
Bibliography
edit- The Language of Flowers (2011)
- A Victorian Flower Dictionary: The Language of Flowers Companion (2011)
- We never asked for Wings (2015)
References
edit- ^ a b "About the Author". Random House. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ a b c Ryce, Walter. "Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a world-famous author whose life, writings and work follow her convictions to help abandoned young people". Monterey County Weekly. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
- ^ "Camellia Network". Camellia Network. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
- ^ a b Lawton, Mark. "Best-selling author Vanessa Diffenbaugh makes local visits". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
- ^ a b Maslin, Janet (2011-09-07). "'The Language of Flowers' by Vanessa Diffenbaugh - Review". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
- ^ Watrous, Malena (August 21, 2011). "'The Language of Flowers,' by Vanessa Diffenbaugh". SFGate. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
- ^ Hopewell, John (2019-05-07). "Nick Robinson to Play Opposite Kiersey Clemons in 'The Language of Flowers' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
External links
edit
  | This article about a novelist of the United States born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a United States writer of non-fiction is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |