Donna Morrissey

Donna Morrissey
Born (1956-01-13) January 13, 1956
The Beaches, Newfoundland
OccupationAuthor
Children2

Donna Morrissey (born January 13, 1956, The Beaches, Newfoundland)[1] is a Canadian author.

At age 16, Morrissey left The Beaches. She lived in various places in Canada before returning to St. John's, where she studied at Memorial University and obtained a Bachelor of Social Work and a diploma in adult education.[2] Morrissey now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Morrissey has written six national best sellers and prize-winning novels — Kit's Law, Downhill Chance, Sylvanus Now, What They Wanted, The Deception of Livvy Higgs, and The Fortunate Brother — as well as one Gemini-nominated screenplay. In 2021 she published a memoir, Pluck: A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Terrible, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist.

Morrissey defended Frank Parker Day's novel Rockbound in Canada Reads 2005. Rockbound eventually won the competition. In the 2007 edition of Canada Reads, an "all-star" competition pitting the five winning advocates from previous years against each other, Morrissey returned to champion Anosh Irani's novel The Song of Kahunsha.[3]

Morrissey had a double mastectomy due to breast cancer.[4]

Publications

  • Kit's Law (1999)
  • Downhill Chance (2002)
  • Sylvanus Now (2005)
  • What They Wanted (2008)
  • The Deception of Livvy Higgs (2012)
  • Cross Katie Cross (2012)
  • What Beautiful Mistake Did You Make Today (2012)
  • The Fortunate Brother (2016)
  • Pluck: A Memoir of a Newfoundland Childhood and the Raucous, Terrible, Amazing Journey to Becoming a Novelist (2021)
  • Rage the Night (2023)
  • Tell It to the Water: Five Siblings Tell of Their Father's Grief and His Struggle Back to Hope (2026)

Filmography

  • Clothesline Patch (screenplay)

Awards and recognition

For Sylvanus Now:

For Downhill Chance:

  • Winner of the Thomas Head Raddall Award

For Kit's Law:

For Clothesline Patch:

For The Deception of Livvy Higgs:

  • One Book Nova Scotia selection, 2016

For The Fortunate Brother:

  • Winner of the Thomas Head Raddall Award
  • Winner of Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Book of 2017

References

  1. ↑ Chafe, Paul (16 December 2013). "Donna Morrissey". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
  2. ↑ "Interview | Donna Morrissey". www.januarymagazine.com. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  3. ↑ "Donna Morrissey looks back at her Canada Reads journey". CBC Books. December 7, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Opinion: I readied myself for the possibility of getting cancer. I still wasn't prepared, when it came". The Globe and Mail. 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  5. ↑ "Honoring the Best of the Best: ALA Award Winners 2002". American Libraries. 33 (8): 54–63. 2002. ISSN 0002-9769. JSTOR 25648434. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.