Heather O'Neill (born 1973) is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, '' Lullabies for Little Criminals'', in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'', where it was championed by singer-songwriter

John K. Samson John Kristjan Samson (born 1973) is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is a singer-songwriter and best known as the frontman of the Canadian indie folk/rock band The Weakerthans. He also played bass in the punk band Propagandhi duri ...

. ''Lullabies'' won the competition. The book also won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for eight other major awards, including the

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

and the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

and was longlisted for

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. ''Lullabies for Little Criminals'' was a publishing sensation in Canada and went on to become an international bestseller. O'Neill was named by ''

Chatelaine Chatelaine may refer to: * Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc. *Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse * ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...

'' as one of the most influential women in Canada.

Biography

O'Neill was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Her father is from Montreal and her mother is of Southern American descent. O'Neill spent the first part of her childhood in Montreal. After her parents' divorce, she lived in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

with her mother for several years before returning to Montreal to live with her father. She has lived in Montreal ever since. She was educated at

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acre ...

and

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. She has one daughter, Arizona, whom she raised as a single parent.

Work

O'Neill published her debut novel ''Lullabies for Little Criminals'' in 2006 and it immediately became a bestseller. She published her second novel ''The Girl Who Was Saturday Night'' in 2014. It was shortlisted for the 2014

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

. It was also nominated for the

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

and the

Encore Award The £10,000 Encore Award for the best second novel was first awarded in 1990. It is sponsored by Lucy Astor. The award fills a niche in the catalogue of literary prizes by celebrating the achievement of outstanding second novels, often neglecte ...

. Her short story collection, ''Daydreams of Angels,'' was published in 2015 and was shortlisted for the

. Her third novel ''The Lonely Hearts Hotel,'' was published in 2017 and won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. She has made contributions to ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'',

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, '' Rookie Magazine'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

'', the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', and ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, non-profit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an 8-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a national s ...

''. O'Neill was on the jury for the 2018

. O'Neill's 2017 CLC Kreisel Lecture was published in 2018 by

University of Alberta Press University of Alberta Press (UAlberta Press) is a publishing house and a division of the University of Alberta that engages in academic publishing. Overview UAlberta Press is situated in the Rutherford Library on the University of Alberta campu ...

as ''Wisdom in Nonsense: Invaluable Lessons From My Father''. In 2019 O'Neill was awarded the Writers' Trust Fellowship for her body of work.

Awards

*Winner of ''

'' 2007 *Winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction 2007 *Shortlisted for the

2007 *Shortlisted for the

2008 *Shortlisted for the Amazon.ca/ Books in Canada First Novel Award 2007 *Shortlisted for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award 2007 *Shortlisted for the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal 2007 *Shortlisted for the

Exclusive Books Boeke Prize The Exclusive Books Boeke Prize is a book prize which was awarded in South Africa from 1995 to 2012. Award The award was loosely modelled on the United Kingdom's Booker Prize, and sponsored by Exclusive Books. Although ''boeke'' is an Afrikaans ...

South Africa 2008 *Longlisted for the

2008 *Winner, GOLD, National Magazine Awards, Best Feature Short (ELLE CANADA), 2010 *Winner, GOLD, National Magazine Awards, Best Feature Short (CHATELAINE), 2011 *Shortlisted for the

2014 *Longlisted

2015 *Longlisted

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented bet ...

2015 *Shortlisted for the

2015 *Shortlisted the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction 2015 *Longlisted for the

2015 *Winner

Danuta Gleed Literary Award The Danuta Gleed Literary Award is a Canadian national literary prize, awarded since 1998. It recognizes the best debut short fiction collection by a Canadian author in English language. The annual prize was founded by John Gleed in honour of his ...

2016 *Shortlisted for the

Sunburst Award The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is an annual award given for a speculative fiction novel or a book-length collection. History The name of the award comes from the title of the first novel by Phyllis Gotlieb, ''Sunburst' ...

2016 *Longlisted

2017 *Winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction 2017 *Winner of the Writers' Trust Fellowship 2019

Books

* ''two eyes are you sleeping'', 1999 (poetry) * ''Lullabies for Little Criminals'', 2006 (novel) * ''The Girl Who Was Saturday Night'', 2014 (novel) * ''Daydreams of Angels'', 2015 (short stories) * ''The Lonely Hearts Hotel'', 2017 (novel) * ''Wisdom in Nonsense: Invaluable Lessons from My Father'', 2018 (nonfiction) * '' When We Lost Our Heads'', 2022 (novel)

Other work

O'Neill wrote the screenplay for the 2000 film ''St. Jude'', directed by

John L'Ecuyer John L'Ecuyer (born November 15, 1964) is a Canadian film and television director. Biography John L'Ecuyer's first feature, '' Curtis's Charm'' (1995), was an adaptation of a Jim Carroll story. The film received a Special Jury Citation as Best Can ...

and starring

Liane Balaban Liane Balaban (born June 24, 1980) is a Canadian actress. Her film debut was in ''New Waterford Girl'' (1999) as Agnes-Marie "Mooney" Pottie. She has since appeared in the films ''Definitely, Maybe'' (2008), ''Last Chance Harvey'' (2008), and the ...

and

Nicholas Campbell Nicholas Campbell (born 24 March 1952) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor and filmmaker, who won three Gemini Awards for acting. He is known for such films as ''Naked Lunch'', ''Prozac Nation'', ''New Waterford Girl'' and the telev ...

. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival. O'Neill has written a book of poetry entitled ''two eyes are you sleeping''. Her 2008 short story "The End of Pinky" was adapted as a 2013 animated short of the same name, with O'Neill providing English narration. In December 2013, it was named to the Toronto International Film Festival's annual top ten list, in the short film category.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Heather 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets Canadian women screenwriters Canadian women novelists Living people Writers from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Montreal Gazette people Canadian people of American descent Canadian women short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 1973 births 21st-century Canadian short story writers McGill University alumni 21st-century Canadian screenwriters