Martha Baillie (born 1960) is a Canadian poet and novelist.

Biography

Baillie was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. She studied history, French and Russian at the University of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, and completed her studies at the Sorbonne,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. It was there that she became involved in theatre. In 1981, after an extended trip through Asia, she decided to shift her focus from acting to writing. After her return - and a brief interlude as a French immersion and ESL teacher - she took up a position at the Toronto Public Library where she is currently employed. Her writing has been published in Canada, Germany and Hungary. Her most popular novel to date is ''The Shape I Gave You'' (2006), listed as a national bestseller by Maclean's magazine in May 2006. In ''The Incident Report'' (2009), Baillie uses the format of 144 short

reports A report is a document that presents information in an organized format for a specific audience and purpose. Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete reports are almost always in the form of written documents. Usage In ...

to recount incidents from her own experiences as a librarian. As a work of fiction the novel contains conventional elements such as "a love story and a mystery"; as a report, it presents a subtext depicting "how Toronto libraries have become a refuge for the city's marginalized".''The Incident Report'' was longlisted for the 2009

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 ...

, and was later adapted to film as '' Darkest Miriam'' in 2024.Caryn James
"‘Darkest Miriam’ Review: Britt Lower in a Marvel of a Drama About a Young Librarian’s Loves and Fears"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', June 9, 2024. Besides five novels, Baillie has had poems published in journals including ''Descant'', '' Prairie Fire'' and ''The Antigonish Review''. Other literary work includes a treatment on ''The Legacy of Joseph Wagenbach'', an installation environment by

Iris Häussler Iris Haeussler (or German spelling 'Häussler') (; born April 6, 1962) is a conceptual and installation art artist of German origin. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Many of Iris Haeussler's works are detailed, hyperrealistic installations ...

, first published in

Brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

in 2007. The author lives in

Selected works

* ''My Sister, Esther''. Turnstone, Winnipeg 1995 * ''Madame Balashovskaya's Apartment''. Turnstone, Winnipeg 1999 * ''The Shape I Gave You''.

Knopf Canada Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada. Company history Random House of Canada was established i ...

, 2006 * ''The Incident Report''.

Pedlar Press Pedlar Press is an independent Canadian book publisher based in St. John's NL, specializing in contemporary works of poetry, prose and graphic novels, works that extend the tradition of literary experimentation. Pedlar Press was founded in 1996 b ...

, Toronto 2009 * ''La disparition d'Heinrich Schlögel, roman.'' Trad. de l'anglais: Paule Noyât. Éditions Jacqueline Chambon,

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

2017 ; Leméac, Montreal 2017 (A novel around Samuel Hearne). Shortlisted

2017 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2017 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 4, 2017,

, Category Translation English-French

References

Sources

* *

External links

Martha Baillie's Website
(includes book excerpts and other writing)

accessed 28 March 2009

accessed 28 March 2009
''The Shape I gave You''
accessed 28 March 2009
''The Incident Report''
accessed 28 March 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, Martha 1960 births Living people University of Paris alumni 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets Novelists from Toronto Poets from Toronto Canadian women poets Canadian women novelists University of Toronto alumni Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian expatriates in Scotland Canadian expatriates in France