Philadelphia writer Robin Black been praised nationally for her short stories, but who is she?

ON FRIDAY, the most famous Philadelphia author that you've never heard of will be the toast of bookish New York when she promenades in to a "literary debutante ball" at a factory loft building deep in hipster Brooklyn.

Writer Robin Black will be one of five literary debs in the limelight that night celebrating the publication of their first books. Hers is a collection of short stories, 2010's If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This.

She'll also be a duck out of water.

Just shy of 50, Black is a lot of things: a serious new voice in fiction with a big contract at Random House and a national book tour next month, the recipient of rave reviews from TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey's O magazine and NPR, a former Penn law student (briefly) and longtime stay-at-home Main Line mom with serious chops as a cookie baker and Halloween costume-maker, the Dharma wife to Greg-ish husband Richard Goldberg, who's a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office.

Next Wednesday, just five days after debuting as a Brooklyn deb, Black will be the belle of the lectern at the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, which is awarding her its annual literary prize for local authors. (Call 215-925-2688 to reserve a seat at the free event, which will also honor journalist Stephen Fried.)

But a Brooklyn hipster Black is not. "I'm very aware of not being hip," she said. "When I'm in Brooklyn, you know, I feel a little bit in danger of being everybody's mother." (Full disclosure: Your duck-out-of-Philly Daily News correspondent can relate. Her hip and much younger sister, Maribeth Batcha, is the publisher of One Story, the literary magazine that sponsors the Brooklyn literati ball.)

The "debutante" label also feels awkward, considering that Black's oldest child has graduated from college and is recently engaged.

"I have this image of myself, at 49, in some ridiculous Betty Sue prom gown and everybody sort of looking embarrassed for me," she said. "There's something very odd about shopping for a debutante dress and a mother-of-the-bride dress at the same time."

Almost famous