Attica Locke

Attica Locke
Attica Locke
Born	1974 (age 49–50); Houston, Texas, U.S.
Language	English
Alma mater	Northwestern University School of Communication
Genre	Fiction, television, film
Relatives	Tembi Locke (sister)
Website
	atticalocke.com

Attica Locke (born 1974 in Houston, Texas) is an American fiction author and writer/producer for television and film.

Career

Locke graduated from Northwestern University School of Communication in 1995,^[1] and was a fellow at the Sundance Institute's Feature Filmmakers Lab in 1999, where she studied screenwriting and directing.^[2]^[3] She has written scripts for Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, 20th Century Fox, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, HBO, and DreamWorks. She was a writer and producer on the Fox drama Empire.^[4] Most recently, she was a writer and producer on Netflix's When They See Us and the Hulu adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere.^[5]^[6]^[7]

In 2021, it was announced that Locke would serve as executive producer and showrunner for the Netflix Limited Series From Scratch, an adaptation of her sister Tembi Locke's 2019 memoir entitled From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home.^[8]^[9] It premiered on Netflix in October 2022.

In 2023, she was elected as a Royal Society of Literature International Writer.^[10]

Personal life

Locke was born in Houston, Texas, to parents who were active in the civil rights movement at the turn of the 1970s. They named her after the 1971 Attica Prison rebellion in upstate New York.^[11]

She now lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.^[4] Actress Tembi Locke is her older sister.^[12]^[13]

She is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West. She is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority ^[14]

Bibliography

Black Water Rising (2009), HarperCollins
The Cutting Season (2012), Dennis Lehane / HarperCollins
Pleasantville (2015), HarperCollins
Bluebird, Bluebird (2017), Mulholland Books
Heaven, My Home (2019), Mulholland Books. This book was mentioned in the New York Times article "The Best Crime Novels of the Year".^[15]
Guide Me Home (2024), Mulholland Books

Awards

2013: Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence – The Cutting Season, (award sponsored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation; established in 2007 to honor Ernest Gaines' legacy)
2016: Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, 2016 – Pleasantville – the award is sponsored by the University of Alabama School of Law and the American Bar Association Journal.
2018: Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel of the Year – Bluebird, Bluebird
2018: Anthony Award for Best Novel – Bluebird, Bluebird
2018: CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award – Bluebird, Bluebird
2020: Staunch Book Prize – Heaven, My Home^[16]

Nominations

For Bluebird, Bluebird:

2018 Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist

For Pleasantville:

Longlisted for the 2016 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction

For The Cutting Season:

Finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award
Honor Book by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize

For Black Water Rising:

Short-listed for the 2010 Orange Prize
Nominated for a 2010 Edgar Award
Nominated for a 2010 NAACP Image Award
2009 Los Angeles Times Book Award finalist
Nominated for a 2009 Strand Magazine Critics Award
Finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award
Indie Next Pick 2009 & 2010^[17]

References

^ Samuels Gibbs, Adrienne (Spring 2020). "The Write Path". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
^ Lopez, Steve (July 19, 1999). "Sundance Summer". Time.
^ Weems, Wendy (July 7, 2017). "Attica Locke on Murder and Race in East Texas". Publishers Weekly.
^ ^a ^b "About", Attica Locke website.
^ Sikka, Madhulika (September 16, 2019). "Attica Locke left Hollywood to write novels. Now she's found success in both worlds". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
^ Jefferson, Nathan (October 31, 2019). "Justice and Forgiveness: On Attica Locke's 'Heaven, My Home' - LARB". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
^ Alford, Henry (November 22, 2018). "When Novelists Turned to TV: Everyone Was Suddenly Using 'Reveal' as a Noun". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
^ Brown, Evan Nicole (2 November 2022). "The Sisterhood Behind Netflix's 'From Scratch': "There's Something Here That Has the Potentiality to Heal a Lot of Hearts"". The Hollywood Reporter.
^ Petski, Denise (February 22, 2021). "Nzingha Stewart To Direct Netflix Limited Series 'From Scratch'". Deadline. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
^ "RSL International Writers | 2023 International Writers". Royal Society of Literature. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
^ Laity, Paul (September 15, 2017). "Attica Locke: 'When Trump was elected, overnight my book changed. I didn't alter a word'". The Guardian.
^ Jackson, Leigh-Ann (October 21, 2019). "Attica and Tembi Locke on Texas Memories, Dealing With Writer's Block, and the Joy of Luby's". Texas Monthly. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
^ Complex, Valerie (25 October 2022). "Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Sisters Tembi & Attica Locke Discuss Adapting 'From Scratch' From Book To Screen And Working With Reese Witherspoon". Deadline.
^ watchtheyard (2024-07-07). "Tembi Locke Inducted as Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha". Watch The Yard. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
^ Stasio, Marilyn (December 5, 2019). "The Best Crime Novels of the Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
^ "2020 Shortlist". Staunch Book Prize. Retrieved November 26, 2020.
^ Indiebound.org

External links

[1] Samuels Gibbs, Adrienne (Spring 2020). "The Write Path". Northwestern Magazine. Northwestern University. Retrieved April 11, 2022.

[2] Lopez, Steve (July 19, 1999). "Sundance Summer". Time.

[3] Weems, Wendy (July 7, 2017). "Attica Locke on Murder and Race in East Texas". Publishers Weekly.

[About-4] "About", Attica Locke website.

[5] Sikka, Madhulika (September 16, 2019). "Attica Locke left Hollywood to write novels. Now she's found success in both worlds". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

[6] Jefferson, Nathan (October 31, 2019). "Justice and Forgiveness: On Attica Locke's 'Heaven, My Home' - LARB". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

[7] Alford, Henry (November 22, 2018). "When Novelists Turned to TV: Everyone Was Suddenly Using 'Reveal' as a Noun". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

[8] Brown, Evan Nicole (2 November 2022). "The Sisterhood Behind Netflix's 'From Scratch': "There's Something Here That Has the Potentiality to Heal a Lot of Hearts"". The Hollywood Reporter.

[9] Petski, Denise (February 22, 2021). "Nzingha Stewart To Direct Netflix Limited Series 'From Scratch'". Deadline. Retrieved August 3, 2021.

[10] "RSL International Writers | 2023 International Writers". Royal Society of Literature. 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

[11] Laity, Paul (September 15, 2017). "Attica Locke: 'When Trump was elected, overnight my book changed. I didn't alter a word'". The Guardian.

[12] Jackson, Leigh-Ann (October 21, 2019). "Attica and Tembi Locke on Texas Memories, Dealing With Writer's Block, and the Joy of Luby's". Texas Monthly. Retrieved September 14, 2020.

[13] Complex, Valerie (25 October 2022). "Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Sisters Tembi & Attica Locke Discuss Adapting 'From Scratch' From Book To Screen And Working With Reese Witherspoon". Deadline.

[14] watchtheyard (2024-07-07). "Tembi Locke Inducted as Honorary Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha". Watch The Yard. Retrieved 2024-07-08.

[15] Stasio, Marilyn (December 5, 2019). "The Best Crime Novels of the Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

[16] "2020 Shortlist". Staunch Book Prize. Retrieved November 26, 2020.

[17] Indiebound.org

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]