Ann-Marie MacDonald is a celebrated Canadian author, playwright, actress, and broadcast host, renowned for her narrative, feminist, and queer-friendly work. Born on October 29, 1958, in West Germany on a Royal Canadian Air Force Station, MacDonald's early years were influenced by her family's military background and diverse heritage, including old Scottish stock and Lebanese immigrants, with Gaelic and Arabic being the mother tongues of her paternal and maternal grandparents, respectively.

MacDonald pursued acting at the National Theatre School of Canada, graduating in 1980, and has since been an integral part of Toronto's alternative theatre scene and the wider Canadian performing arts. Her film work includes roles in The Wars and Better Than Chocolate, earning her a Genie nomination for I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, and a Gemini Award for Where the Spirit Lives.

Her playwriting achievements include the award-winning Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), which garnered the Chalmers Award, the Governor General’s Award, and the Canadian Authors’ Association Award. MacDonald's plays have been featured in major Canadian festivals, including The Shaw Festival and The Stratford Festival.

As an author, MacDonald's debut novel, Fall on Your Knees, won the Commonwealth Prize and was an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Her subsequent novels, including The Way the Crow Flies and Adult Onset, have met with international acclaim and bestseller status. Her latest novel, Fayne, was published in October 2022.

In 2019, MacDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the arts and LGBTQ2S+ rights advocacy. She is married to theatre director Alisa Palmer, and the couple has two daughters. They reside in Montreal, where MacDonald continues to influence Canada’s artistic and cultural landscape.