Billie Livingston
Encyclopedia
Billie Livingston is a Canadian
novelist, short story
writer and poet
. Born in Hamilton
, Ontario
, Livingston grew up in Toronto
and Vancouver
, British Columbia
. She lives in Vancouver.
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, was published in 2006 and subsequently chosen as one of the year's best books by The Globe and Mail
, January Magazine
, and The Tyee
.
Her short fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies, including The Walrus
, Toronto Life
Magazine, The Journey Prize
Stories, and This Magazine where it has been twice awarded in The Great Canadian Literary Hunt. She has also won fiction prizes from PRISM international
, sub-TERRAIN, The Fiddlehead
, Other Voices
and The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts. Livingston's debut collection, Greedy Little Eyes, 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 CBC
's Bookie Award as well as the Danuta Gleed Literary Award
for Best Short Story Collection.
In addition to publications in journals and magazines around the world, Livingston's poetry has appeared in textbooks such as Literature and the Writing Process and on public transit through the TransLink "Poetry in Transit" program. She has received fellowships from The Banff Centre, MacDowell Colony
, the Seaside Institute
, Ucross Foundation
and Omi International Arts Center
.
She is married to American actor Tim Kelleher
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
novelist, short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
writer and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. Born in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Livingston grew up in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. She lives in Vancouver.
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
Pat Lowther Award
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
. Her second novel, Cease to Blush, was published in 2006 and subsequently chosen as one of the year's best books by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, January Magazine
January Magazine
January Magazine is a Web-based book-related publication. Founded by author Linda L. Richards and graphic artist/photographer David Middleton in 1997, January has added various sections and offshoot publications since....
, and The Tyee
The Tyee
The Tyee is an independent Canadian online web magazine, which focuses on coverage of news and media issues in British Columbia.The Tyee was launched in November 2003 by David Beers, a journalist who had previously been associated with the Vancouver Sun...
.
Her short fiction has been widely published in magazines and anthologies, including The Walrus
The Walrus
The Walrus is a Canadian general interest magazine which publishes long form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers. It launched in September 2003, as an attempt to create a Canadian equivalent to American magazines such as Harper's, The...
, Toronto Life
Toronto Life
Toronto Life is a monthly Canadian magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Life also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including Home Decor, Stylebook, Eating & Drinking, Real Estate and Weddings. Established in 1966,...
Magazine, The Journey Prize
Journey Prize
The Journey Prize is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by McClelland and Stewart and the Writers' Trust of Canada for the best short story published by an emerging writer in a Canadian literary magazine. The award was endowed by James A...
Stories, and This Magazine where it has been twice awarded in The Great Canadian Literary Hunt. She has also won fiction prizes from PRISM international
PRISM international
PRISM international is a magazine published quarterly in Vancouver, British Columbia. Established in 1959, it is Western Canada's senior literary magazine...
, sub-TERRAIN, The Fiddlehead
The Fiddlehead
The Fiddlehead is a Canadian literary magazine, published four times annually at the University of New Brunswick.The journal was established in 1945 by Alfred Bailey as an in-house publication for the Bliss Carman Poetry Society; it was converted into a general literary magazine in 1952...
, Other Voices
Other Voices, Inc.
Other Voices, Inc. is a non-profit literary press encompassing Other Voices literary magazine and the fiction imprint OV Books.-Other Voices magazine:Established in 1984, Other Voices is a "fiction-focused magazine .....
and The Lawrence House Centre for the Arts. Livingston's debut collection, Greedy Little Eyes, was cited by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
as one of 2010's best books and by The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp...
as one of the fifteen most outstanding books of the year. In 2011 Greedy Little Eyes won the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's Bookie Award as well as the Danuta Gleed Literary Award
Danuta Gleed Literary Award
The Danuta Gleed Literary Award recognizes a first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author writing in English. The award is presented annually by the Writers' Union of Canada and was endowed by John Gleed in honour of his late wife....
for Best Short Story Collection.
In addition to publications in journals and magazines around the world, Livingston's poetry has appeared in textbooks such as Literature and the Writing Process and on public transit through the TransLink "Poetry in Transit" program. She has received fellowships from The Banff Centre, MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, the Seaside Institute
Seaside, Florida
Seaside is an unincorporated master-planned community on the Florida panhandle in Walton County, between Panama City Beach and Destin. The town has become the topic of slide lectures in architectural schools and in housing-industry magazines, and is visited by design professionals from all over the...
, Ucross Foundation
Ucross Foundation
The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...
and Omi International Arts Center
Omi International Arts Center
Omi International Arts Center is a nonprofit international arts organization located in Columbia County in upstate New York. Omi International Arts Center was founded in 1992 by Francis Greenburger, a New York real estate developer, who serves as chairman of Art Omi, Inc., the residency’s parent...
.
She is married to American actor Tim Kelleher
Tim Kelleher
Tim Kelleher is an American writer, actor and director.Born in The Bronx, Tim grew up across the five boroughs of New York City, and played football with an elite corps of young men at perennial powerhouse Msgr. Farrell on Staten Island...
.
Fiction
- Greedy Little Eyes (2010) Winner of the Danuta Gleed Literary AwardDanuta Gleed Literary AwardThe Danuta Gleed Literary Award recognizes a first collection of short fiction by a Canadian author writing in English. The award is presented annually by the Writers' Union of Canada and was endowed by John Gleed in honour of his late wife....
, Winner of the CBCCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
Bookie Award - Cease to Blush (2006)
- Going Down Swinging (2000)
Poetry
- The Chick at the Back of the Church (2001) Finalist for the Pat Lowther AwardPat Lowther AwardThe Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
Anthologies
- Literature and the Writing Process--Cdn Edition (Pearson, 2005)
- Northwest Edge: Fictions of Mass Destruction (Chiasmus Press, 2003)
- Dropped Threads 2 (Vintage BooksVintage BooksVintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
, 2003) - Love Poems for the Media Age (Ripple Effect Press, 2001)
- Journey Prize Anthology (McClelland and StewartMcClelland and StewartMcClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is partially owned by Random House of Canada, now a subsidiary of Bertelsmann....
, 2001) - Hammer and Tongs (Smoking Lung Press , 1999)
- The Edges of Time (Seraphim Editions, 1999)
- Meltwater (Banff CentreBanff CentreThe Banff Centre, formerly known as The Banff Centre for Continuing Education, is an arts, cultural, and educational institution and conference complex located in Banff, Alberta...
Press, 1999)
External links
- Billie Livingston
- Author Spotlight on the Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
website. - Georgia Straight writers choose 15 outstanding books of 2010
- The 2010 Globe 100: Canadian fiction
- Short Story Do Not Touch online at The WalrusThe WalrusThe Walrus is a Canadian general interest magazine which publishes long form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers. It launched in September 2003, as an attempt to create a Canadian equivalent to American magazines such as Harper's, The...
- Author Interview on line at Bookclub.ca
- CBC Book Club Bookie Awards
- Online Audio Interview at the The Commentary with Joseph Planta
- Author Q&A at the National Post
- National Post announces nominees for Danuta Gleed Literary Award
- Billie Livingston Wins Danuta Gleed - National Post