Karen Essex
Encyclopedia
Early life and education
Essex was born in New Orleans, LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. As a teenager, she got involved with the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and focused her collegiate studies on costume design and theatrical history at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. She later attended an interdisciplinary graduate program at Vanderbilt University, and in 1999, received an M. F. A. in Writing at Goddard College in Vermont.
Early Film Career
After college, Essex briefly modeled in Europe before returning to the U. S. where she found an entrée into the film industry as a costume designer. She moved into executive positions, becoming vice-president of a subsidiary of Blake Edwards Entertainment and senior vice-president of Force Ten Productions, a bi-coastal company that financed BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
, and motion pictures. By the early 1990s, she had given birth to her only child and had resigned from film production to pursue a career in writing.
Early Writing Career
Essex first short story, “Three Audreys,” was published in The Sun: A Magazine of Ideas. Based on that story and on her knowledge of popular music, she was hired by L. A. Style Magazine to write a lengthy profile of the band Los Lobos, which began her career as a music journalist. In 1991, she wrote a cover story for The L. A. Weekly, In Search of Bettie PageBettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
, which kicked off the Bettie Page revival and led to a biography of the pin-up queen, Bettie Page: Life of a Pin-Up Legend, written with the reclusive Page’s cooperation. In 1994, Essex moved to Nashville, where she worked as a music journalist and taught writing workshops at Vanderbilt University’s Women’s Center. She returned to Los Angeles in 2000.
The Historical Novels
In 1992, while studying women’s history, Essex discovered that the historical Cleopatra had little to do with the Elizabeth Taylor creation that existed in the popular imagination. Her two-volume novel, Kleopatra & Pharaoh, published in 2001 and 2002 respectively, reimagined the queen as a shrewd ruler and diplomat. Essex also adapted the books into a screenplay for Warner Bros. In 2004, while staring at the mural opposite The Last Supper in Milan, she decided to write a novel about the powerful Este sisters—both muses to Leonardo da Vinci—and their rivalry for the attentions of the Duke of Milan as well as for the artist. Leonardo’s Swans was published by Doubleday in 2006 and became a bestseller both nationally and internationally. It was especially popular in Italy, where it became a runaway bestseller and won the 2007 Premio Roma for foreign fiction. Stealing Athena (Doubleday 2008) tells the story of the controversial Elgin Marbles told from the dual narratives of Mary Nisbet, wife of the Earl of Elgin, British ambassador to Constantinople, and Aspasia, mistress of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens. All of her novels have received praise for her meticulous research, attention to detail, and evocation of the historical settings.No matter what the setting, Essex’s books are always about women and power. In an interview on her website about Stealing Athena, Essex said. “Although women of power and influence have always existed, history has not always recorded their contributions and achievements. It has been my ambition in each of my novels to retell the stories of strong and beguiling women who helped to change the world.”
Published works
- Bettie Page: Life of a Pin-Up Legend, co-written with James L. Swanson (1996) ISBN 978-1575440804
- KleopatraKleopatra PharaohKleopatra and Pharaoh are a two volume novel by historical novelist Karen Essex, author of Leonardo’s Swans and Stealing Athena. The books emphasize the Egyptian queen’s Greek roots as a descendent of Alexander the Great and re-imagine her as an astute ruler and diplomat.-External links:* * *...
(2001) ISBN 978-0446527408 - PharaohKleopatra PharaohKleopatra and Pharaoh are a two volume novel by historical novelist Karen Essex, author of Leonardo’s Swans and Stealing Athena. The books emphasize the Egyptian queen’s Greek roots as a descendent of Alexander the Great and re-imagine her as an astute ruler and diplomat.-External links:* * *...
(2002) ISBN 978-0446530255 - Leonardo's SwansLeonardo's SwansLeonardo’s Swans is an international bestseller by Karen Essex, published by Doubleday in 2006. The novel tells the story of the rivalry between the powerful Este sisters, Beatrice and Isabella, princesses of the House of Ferrara, as they competed for the attentions of both the Duke of Milan and...
(2006) ISBN 978-0767923064 - Stealing AthenaStealing AthenaStealing Athena is an historical novel by Karen Essex, which chronicles the journey of the controversial Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures from their home atop the Acropolis in Athens to the present location, The British Museum...
(2008) ISBN 978-0385519717 - Dracula in Love: A Novel (2010) ISBN 978-0385528917