Louise Carson

Born in Montreal and raised in Hudson, Quebec, Louise Carson studied music in Montreal and Toronto, played jazz piano and sang in the chorus of the Canadian Opera Company. She has published eighteen books: three collections of poetry -- A Clearing, Dog Poems, and The Truck Driver Treated for Shock; three stand-alone works of fiction -- Mermaid Road, Executor, and The Last Unsuitable Man; The Chronicles of Deasil Widdy trilogy -- In Which (shortlisted for the 2019 QWF price for Children's literature and the 2019 ReLit Award), Measured, and Third Circle; as well as the stand-alone prequel to the Deasil Widdy books -- Rope: A Tale Told in Prose and Verse; and her Maples Mystery series -- The Cat Among Us, The Cat Vanishes, The Cat Between, The Cat Possessed, A Clutter of Cats, The Cat Looked Back, The Cat Crosses a Line, and The Cat Laughs.

Her poems have appeared in literary magazines, chapbooks and anthologies, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2013, 2021 and 2024. She's been shortlisted in FreeFall magazine's annual contest three times and won a Manitoba Magazine Award. She has presented her work in many public forums in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatoon, Kingston and New York City. Carson lives with two cats in St-Lazare, Quebec, where she writes and either shovels snow or gardens, depending on the season.

Upcoming event with Louise Carson

Sunday June 21, 2026 at 1:30 pm EDT

ONLINE EVENT

Fiction Fest

Author Readings: Mystery Authors

YouTube Live (https://events.humanitix.com/mystery-authors-1)

Join Louise Carson, J.P Bird, Suzanne Craig-Whytock and Melissa Yi as they read from their books. All Canada Fiction Fest live virtual sessions will be streamed to the Fiction Fest YouTube channel. Register here to get email reminders in the lead up to the session: https://events.humanitix.com/mystery-authors-1

Upcoming event with Louise Carson

Thursday July 2, 2026 at 7:00 pm EDT

ONLINE EVENT

Fiction Fest

Building a Mystery: What Makes a Satisfying Sleuthhound Story?

YouTube Live (https://events.humanitix.com/building-a-mystery)

Join Louise Carson, Melissa Yi, and Bob Nothnagel for a discussion about writing mysteries. All Canada Fiction Fest live virtual sessions will be streamed to the Fiction Fest YouTube channel. Register here to get email reminders in the lead up to the session: https://events.humanitix.com/building-a-mystery

Signature Editions Highlighted at McNally Robinson

Posted on: Wednesday, July 5, 2023

McNally Robinson Booksellers currently has a display highlighting several Signature Editions titles. This display is part of McNally Robinson’s ongoing celebration of work from Manitoba publishers, co-presented with the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers.

Louise Carson’s ‘Muskrat dives’ featured as Poem of the Month in Montreal Review of Books!

Posted on: Tuesday, March 8, 2016

'Muskrat dives' taken from Louise Carson's latest poetry collection, A Clearing has been featured in Montreal Review of Books as their poem of the month! Read the full poem here: http://mtlreviewofbooks.ca/v4/muskrat-dives/

Executor by Louise Carson on the Super Secret Festival of Lit - Mysteries & Thrillers

Posted on: Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Executor by Louise Carson

Personal and moral tangles abound in this political thriller from Louise Carson. Peter Forrest, a former student of recently-dead (from apparent suicide) poet Eleanor Brandon, is left to be the executor of her literary estate. Peter just wants her final poems published, but is drawn into her activist life in China all the same.

Why We Chose It

Executor is a political issues thriller/mystery made better by all of the thorny personal history that exists between now-married Peter and his professor-cum-lover, Eleanor. Also, the prose is gorgeous, as author Carson is also a celebrated poet herself.

Who Would Love This Book

This book is for anyone interested in international human rights issues, or those who just love a really juicy mystery.