Heather O'Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of Canada Reads, where it was championed by singer-songwriter John K. Samson. 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 and the Governor General's Award and was longlisted for International Dublin Literary Award. Lullabies for Little Criminals was a publishing sensation in Canada and went on to become an international bestseller. O'Neill was named by Chatelaine as one of the most influential women in Canada.
Biography
O'Neill was born in Montreal. 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 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 and McGill University. 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. It was also nominated for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction and the Encore Award. Her short story collection, Daydreams of Angels, was published in 2015 and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. 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 Guardian, This American Life, CBC Radio, Rookie Magazine, Elle, Chatelaine, the National Post, The Globe and Mail the Toronto Star, and The Walrus. O'Neill was on the jury for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize. O'Neill's 2017 CLC Kreisel Lecture was published in 2018 by The University of Alberta Press 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 Canada Reads 2007
Winner of the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction 2007
O'Neill wrote the screenplay for the 2000 film St. Jude, directed by John L'Ecuyer and starring Liane Balaban and Nicholas Campbell. 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.
