Merilyn Simonds

Merilyn Simonds is the author of 20 books, most recently Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay, released in May, 2022. 

Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Merilyn grew up in Brazil, where she acquired a taste for the fabulous. She published her first book in 1979 at the age of 29, and since then her work has been anthologized and published internationally in eight countries. She writes in a wide variety of genres—personal essay, memoir, travel, literary fiction (such as the novel The Holding, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice) and creative nonfiction, including The Convict Lover. In 2017, Project Bookmark Canada installed a plaque on the site of the former Kingston Penitentiary rock quarry to honour the place of The Convict Lover in Canada’s literary landscape. Her new work—Woman, Watching—is an innovative memoir/biography of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, an extraordinary recluse who changed the way we see birds. 

Simonds was Chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada and Founding Artistic Director of Kingston WritersFest. A champion of writers and writing, she acts as consultant to literary festivals in Canada and Mexico, and mentors emerging writers. She divides her time between Kingston, Ontario, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.