Merilyn Simonds is the author of 14 books, including the classic, bestselling work of creative nonfiction,The Convict Lover, a finalist for a Governor General’s Award. Her debut novel, The Holding, was selected a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her books and short fiction have been published in England, Europe, Japan, China, and the United States, and her fiction was recently featured in a special Canadian issue of the Journal of the Americas.

Her travels often provide material for her work: in her collection of short prose, The Lion in the Room Next Door, the linked stories follow one woman on a metaphorical and actual journey through Europe, Central, and South America, where Merilyn spent some of her childhood years.

As a journalist for such publications as Harrowsmith, Canadian Geographic, Equinox, Saturday Night, and The Walrus magazines, Merilyn published dozens of articles on topics as diverse as art and war, architecture and gardens. Her love of travelling is balanced by her obsession with culture and horticulture. At home, she cultivates twenty-six garden beds and posts a weekly literary garden essay on her website, frugalistagardener.com.

Merilyn lives with her husband Wayne Grady in their two-hundred-year-old stone house on a country property in eastern Ontario.