Lisa Moore (born 28 March 1964) is a Canadian writer and editor established in the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

Biography

Born in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, Moore studied art first at

College of the North Atlantic College of the North Atlantic (CNA, formerly CONA) is one of the largest post-secondary educational and skills training centres in Atlantic Canada, with a history dating back 50 years. The college has 17 campus locations throughout the province ...

in her home province and then at the

Nova Scotia College of Art and Design NSCAD University, also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), is a public university, public art school, art university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university is a co-educational institution tha ...

. Although she had intended to follow a career in the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

, she now writes full-time. Moore's work primarily takes place in Newfoundland. She has worked to promote different writers and places of the province by compiling local artists' text and writing articles about Newfoundland communities. In her new book "The Democracy Cookbook" Moore writes a

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

approach to "stir up conversations around cabinet tables". Moore's daughter Eva Crocker is also a writer, whose debut short story collection ''Barrelling Forward'' was published in 2017.

Awards and recognition

Moore's first two books, ''Degrees of Nakedness'' (1995) and ''Open'' (2002), are short story collections. ''Open'' was a commercial and critical breakthrough, earning a nomination for the

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried co ...

. ''Open'' was subsequently published as an unabridged audiobook. Her first novel, ''Alligator'' (2005), was also nominated for the Giller Prize. It won the 2006

Commonwealth Writers' Prize Commonwealth Foundation has presented a number of prizes since 1987. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best First ...

Best Book Award,

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Region, and was longlisted for the 2007

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

. Moore was one of 13 novelists on the long list for the 2010

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

for ''February'', a prize worth approximately $80,000. In an interview with

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, Moore said she was "completely overwhelmed with happiness" when she heard the news while staying in a remote cabin with her husband. On February 15, 2013, ''February'' won ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

2013: Turf Wars''. She released her newest short story collection, ''Something for Everyone'', in 2018. The book was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2018

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (known as the Scotiabank Giller Prize from 2005-2023) is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried c ...

. Her book ''Invisible Prisons: Jack Whalen’s Tireless Fight for Justice'', cowritten with Whalen, was a finalist for the

Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction The Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best work of non-fiction by a Canadian writer. Canada's most lucrative non-fiction prize, the winner re ...

Bibliography

Fiction

* ''Alligator'' (2005) * ''February'' (2009) * ''Caught'' (2013) * ''Flannery'' (2016) * ''This Is How We Love'' (2022)

Short story collections

* ''Degrees of Nakedness'' (1995) * ''Open'' (2002) * ''The Selected Short Fiction of Lisa Moore'' (2012) * ''Something for Everyone'' (House of Anansi, 2018) ** excerpt: ''The fjord of eternity.''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

, 141, special ed. ''Canada'', September 2017, pp 261–276

Periodicals

* Rock Haven (2011) * A Labour of Love (2014)

References

External links

Lisa Moore's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Lisa 1964 births Living people Canadian women novelists Canadian women short story writers NSCAD University alumni Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Novelists from Newfoundland and Labrador