Philana Marie Boles
Philana Marie Boles (born in Toledo, Ohio) is the author of the young adult novel Glitz (the Viking Press imprint of Penguin Books), the 'tween novel Little Divas (HarperCollins Children's Books), and the adult novels Blame It on Eve (the Ballantine/One World imprint of Random House) and In the Paint (the Amistad imprint of HarperCollins). She currently lives in The Hamptons, a suburb of New York City.
After writing Little Divas, Boles was compared by critics to Judy Blume and Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Sybil Wilkes, of the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, twice featured Little Divas as a recommended book for youth.
Boles has appeared as a panelist at The Baltimore Book Festival, The Miami Book Fair International, The Indiana Black Expo, The Southern Kentucky Book Festival, and alongside Eric Jerome Dickey at Camp Mariah.
According to her blog, when Boles is not writing she enjoys listening to music, a passion that inspired her young adult novel Glitz.
Education and background
A 1994 graduate of St. Ursula Academy (Toledo, Ohio) one of Ohio's oldest, all-female, Catholic college preparatory high school, Boles was studied creative writing and theater at Bowling Green State University.
A native of Toledo, Ohio, Boles has also lived in Bowling Green, Ohio; New York City, and Howard Beach, Queens. She has worked for: Glamour (magazine), Spike Lee's Brooklyn based 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, the Toledo Free Press, and as a long-term substitute teacher for public and community schools.
References
Articles featuring Philana Marie Boles:
- Interview with "The Brown Bookshelf"
- Backstory interview on "Little Divas" with MJ Rose
- "Sormag" blog interview
- News article for "In the Paint"
- News article for "Blame It on Eve"