Bonnie Laing
Writer
Editor
Playwright
Teacher
Researcher
Biography
Bonnie Laing is one of only three people in Glengarry County who can parallel park.
She was born and raised in the east end of Montreal, the scene of many of her stories. She graduated with an Honours English degree from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.
In her professional career, she has worked as a teacher, copywriter, editor, public relations executive, marketing director and creative director. For more than twenty years, she has freelanced as a writer, editor and marketing consultant in both Toronto and Eastern Ontario.
She has a particular interest in social marketing issues, including health, nutrition, fitness, human rights, the environment and Indigenous rights.
Her short fiction has been published in many Canadian literary magazines and a collection of linked stories, set in Montreal and titled Marble Season, was published by Oberon Press in 1992.
Bonnie’s first novel, River Reel, was set in Eastern Ontario and published in 2005 by Sumach Press. She is currently polishing her second novel, Bemused.
Bonnie is also the author of Peggy & Grace, a two-act play that has had close to 20 professional productions across Canada, from Parrsboro, Nova Scotia to Kelowna, B.C.
A second play, Having Words, about the difficulties of learning to read as an adult, has been workshopped and is currently making the rounds.
Numerous non-fiction articles have been published in the Globe & Mail, Ottawa Citizen, Toronto Life, Toronto Star and TV Guide.
She is also the author of A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, a history of the Glengarry Highland Games, and At The Crossroads, a 50th anniversary history of the Glengarry Pioneer Museum.
Bonnie lives in a century house in Eastern Ontario with the love of her life, Greg, and two adored cats.