Maria Semple

Maria Semple
Semple in 2013
Born
Maria Keogh Semple

(1964-05-21) May 21, 1964 (age 60)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
EducationBarnard College (BA)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • producer
Years active1992–present
PartnerGeorge Meyer
Children1
FatherLorenzo Semple Jr.

Maria Keogh Semple (born May 21, 1964)[1] is an American novelist and screenwriter. She is the author of This One Is Mine (2008), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012), and Today Will Be Different (2016).[2][3][4] Her television credits include Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Saturday Night Live, Arrested Development, Suddenly Susan, and Ellen. She is a 2013 recipient of the Alex Awards.

Early life

Semple was born in Santa Monica, California. Her family moved to Spain soon after she was born. There her father, the screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr., wrote the pilot for the television series Batman. The family moved to Los Angeles and then to Aspen, Colorado. Semple attended boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall, then received a BA in English from Barnard College in 1986.[5]

Career

Semple's first screenwriting job was in 1992, for the television show Beverly Hills, 90210. She was nominated for a Primetime Emmy, Outstanding Television Series, in 1997 for Mad About You. In 2006 and 2007, she was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award, for Arrested Development. This One is Mine was a finalist for the 2010 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award. She appeared in the 2004 David O. Russell film I Heart Huckabees. She is active in the Seattle literary community, and is a founding member of Seattle 7 Writers. Her writing has appeared in the magazine The New Yorker. She has also taught fiction writing at the Richard Hugo House.[5]

Novels

Semple's novels are This One is Mine (2008), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012), and Today Will Be Different (October 2016), all published by Little, Brown and Company. This One is Mine is about a woman who has it all, a loving family and wealth; however, her unhappiness leads her to make dangerous decisions in the pursuit of "more." Where'd You Go, Bernadette is about an agoraphobic architect, mother, and wife who is struggling to adjust to life in Seattle and goes missing just before a family trip to Antarctica. Where'd You Go, Bernadette spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list,[6] won the American Library Association's Alex Award,[7] and was shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.[8] In 2013, Annapurna Pictures and Color Force acquired the rights.[9] Cate Blanchett starred in the film adaptation,[10] directed by Richard Linklater, which was released on August 16, 2019.[11] Today Will Be Different takes place over the course of a single day and tells the story of a woman who starts the day determined to be her best self.[12]

Personal life

Semple is in a relationship with producer, writer and reclusive raconteur George Meyer and has one daughter with him, Poppy. They reside in Seattle. In 2007, a newly discovered species of moss frogs from Sri Lanka was named Philautus poppiae after their daughter, a tribute to Meyer's and Semple's dedication to the Global Amphibian Assessment.[5]

References

  1. ^ Maria Semple "in Contemporary Authors, Gale Literary Databases"
  2. ^ Aspen novelist Maria Semple discovers this town is hers Archived 2014-11-01 at the Wayback Machine - Aspen Times
  3. ^ Book Review: 'This One Is Mine' by Maria Semple - Los Angeles Times
  4. ^ Today Will Be Different - Hachette Book Group. ISBN 978-0-316-39671-4. Retrieved 2016-09-04. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  5. ^ a b c Maria Semple biography at official website Archived 2011-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Where'd You Go, Maria?". Aspen Daily News. 27 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Alex Awards 2013". 2014-01-29. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  8. ^ "BAILEYS Women's Prize for Fiction » 2013". www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  9. ^ "'Zero Dark Thirty,' 'Hunger Games' Producers Team for 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette'". The Hollywood Reporter. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  10. ^ "Cate Blanchett in Talks to Star in 'Where'd You Go, Bernadette?' Adaptation". The Hollywood Reporter. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  11. ^ "Your 2019 Literary Adaptation Preview". Literary Hub. 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  12. ^ "Today Will Be Different – Maria Semple". www.mariasemple.com. Retrieved 2016-09-04.