Lisa de Nikolits

Lisa de Nikolits is a Canadian writer and art director originally from South Africa, who moved to Canada in 2000.

De Nikolits has received several literary awards, including an Independent Publisher Book Award. Her novel The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution was longlisted for the 2020 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. Her book The Rage Room was a finalist in the science fiction category of the International Book Awards (IBA) in 2021.

She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, the International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. Her most recent book, Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, was published in 2025, bringing her total of published novels to thirteen.

Background De Nikolits was born in South Africa. She grew up on a smallholding in Gauteng. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English literature and Philosophy from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. In 2000, de Nikolits moved to Canada where she became a Canadian citizen in 2003. She has worked as an art director in the United States, Australia and Britain for Marie Claire, Vogue Australia, and Vogue Living. She has worked on Hello! Canada, Canadian Health & Lifestyle, Canadian Living, Cosmetics and other Canadian magazine titles.

Writing De Nikolits is the author of twelve novels and the recipient of several awards and honours. Her title The Occult Persuasion and The Anarchist's Solution was longlisted for The Sunburst Awards 2020. The stories of de Nikolits and three other members of the writer's group Mesdames of Mayhem were presented in CBC Documentary in October 2019, The Mesdames of Mayhem, a CBC GEM documentary. Her books were chosen as a Chatelaine Editor's Pick,

Published books Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, , Inanna Publications and Education, 200 pages, 2025. Everything You Dream is Real, , Inanna, 336 pages, 2022 The Rage Room, , Inanna, 312 pages, 2020 The Occult Persuasion and The Anarchist's Solution, , Inanna, 300 pages, 2019 Una furia dell'altro mondo, , Edizioni le Assassine, 398 pages, 2019 Rotten Peaches, , Inanna, 300 pages, 2018 No Fury Like That, , Inanna, 320 pages, 2017 The Nearly Girl, , Inanna, 312 pages, 2016 Between The Cracks She Fell, , Inanna, 300 pages, 2015 The Witchdoctor's Bones, , Inanna, 388 pages, 2014 A Glittering Chaos, , Inanna, 344 pages, 2013 West of Wawa, , Inanna, 312 pages, 2011 The Hungry Mirror, , Inanna, 354 pages, 2010

Writing awards The Hungry Mirror, longlisted for a ReLit award, 2011 The Occult Persuasion and the Anarchist's Solution, longlisted for a Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, 2020

Other published works Flash Fiction Online, The Love Triangle, Maudlinhouse.net, 2014 Canadian Woman Studies Journal, Women Writing4: Remembering: Inanna, Winter 2012/Spring 2013, poem. Short Story Online, Henry and Hannah, Maudlinhouse.net, 2014

Other honors Served as a judge for the Hamilton Literary Awards 2014, Fiction. Guest Blogger on Open Book: Toronto, 2013 Featured Guest on SheDoesTheCity, June 2010