Bio
Martha Baillie was born in Toronto, and educated in a French-English bilingual school. She studied history and modern languages (French and Russian) at the University of Edinburgh.
She completed her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Toronto. While at university, she became involved in theatre
In 1981, she took an extended trip through parts of Asia including Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Burma, Nepal and India. This experience inspired her to switch her focus from acting to writing.
Today, she works part-time for the Toronto Public Library.
Cannoing and hiking are two of her principal passions.
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Baillie’s first novel, My Sister Esther, was published in 1995, followed by Madame Balashovskaya’s Apartment in 1999. The latter was translated into Hungarian and German. In 2006, her third novel, The Shape I Gave You received acclaim nationwide. Her 2009 novel, The Incident Report was nominated for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize, and was adapted as a feature film. Darkest Miriam, starring Britt Lower (of Severance fame) and Tom Mercier (Le Reigne Animal), had Charlie Kaufman as executive producer and was directed by Naomi Jaye. It premiered in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024. The Search For Heinrich Schlögel came out in September 2014 with Pedlar Press in Canada, Tin House in the US, Actes Sud in France, and Leméac, in Quebec. A digital companion to The Search For Heinrich Schlögel can be explored at the Schlögel Archive. Her sixth novel, If Clara, was followed by a work of call and response, Sister Language, which was co-authored with her sister, Christina Baillie, and nominated for the Trillium Prize in 2019. Her memoir, There Is No Blue, was published by Granta Books int the UK, Coach House in Toronto, and is being translated into french for Les Éditions Alto. Baillie is a fellow of The Dora Maar House. She has been awarded grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council. She lives in Toronto.
