Billie Livingston

Billie Livingston is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet.

Life and career

Born in Hamilton, Ontario,

Livingston's short story 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. The film was released in 2014.

2016 saw Livingston's American debut with the publication of The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

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.

She is married to American actor and writer, Tim Kelleher.

Awards and honours

In 2026, Livingston's story, The Headache, originally published by Dark Yonder, was nominated in the category of Best Crime Short Story for the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence. This story was also selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor, Tess Gerritsen as one of twenty to appear in the 2026 edition of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year.

In 2025, Livingston's story, Houdini Act, originally published by The Saturday Evening Post, was nominated in the category of Best Crime Short Story for the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.

Her short story, Same Old Song, which first appeared in Black Cat Weekly was selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor, John Grisham as one of twenty to appear in the 2025 edition of The Best Mystery Stories of the Year.

In 2017, Billie Livingston received the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award "in recognition of a remarkable body of work, and in anticipation of future contributions to Canadian literature."

Livingston's 2010 short story collection Greedy Little Eyes won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and was longlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. Her novel One Good Hustle was longlisted for the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize.