Crooked Heart of Mercy (Livingston)

Author Bio
• Birth—November 23, 1965
• Where—Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Education—N/A
• AWards—Danuta Gleed Literary Award; CBC Bookie Award
• Currently—lives in Vancourer, British Columbia


Billie Livingston is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Livingston grew up in Toronto and Vancouver, British Columbia. She lives in Vancouver and is married to American actor Tim Kelleher.

Her critically acclaimed first novel, Going Down Swinging (2000), was followed by The Chick at the Back of the Church (2001), a poetry book that was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award.

Her second novel, Cease to Blush (2006), was chosen as one of the year's best books by The Globe and Mail, January Magazine, and The Tyee. Her novel, One Good Hustle (2012), was long-listed for the 2012 Giller Prize and selected by the Globe and Mail, January Magazine, and Toronto's Now Magazine as one of the year's best books.

Livingston's short story collection, Greedy Little Eyes (2010), was cited by the Globe and Mail as one of 2010's best books and by the Georgia Straight as one of the fifteen most outstanding books of the year. In 2011 Greedy Little Eyes won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Best Short Story Collection as well as the CBC's Bookie Award.

In 2013, her story, "The Trouble with Marlene," was made into the 2014 feature film, Sitting on the Edge of Marlene, directed by Ana Valine, and starring Suzanne Clement, Paloma Kwiatkowski, and Callum Keith Rennie.

In addition to publications in journals and magazines around the world, Livingston's poetry has appeared in textbooks and on public transit through the TransLink "Poetry in Transit" program. She has received fellowships from The Banff Centre, MacDowell Colony, Escape to Create (Seaside, Florida), Ucross Foundation and Omi International Arts Center. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 5/12/2016 .)