Heather O'Neill (born 1973)[1] is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006.

[4] She wrote the screenplay for the 2000 film Saint Jude, based in part on her own early short story "Big Al".

[5] Directed by John L'Ecuyer and starring Liane Balaban and Nicholas Campbell, it debuted at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival.

[12] O'Neill's 2017 CLC Kreisel Lecture was published in 2018 by University of Alberta Press as Wisdom in Nonsense: Invaluable Lessons From My Father.

She appeared as a panelist in the 2024 edition of Canada Reads, winning the competition while championing Susan Ouriou's English translation of Catherine Leroux's novel The Future.

[15] With Lullabies for Little Criminals having won the competition in 2007, her participation in the debates made her one of very few people who have ever been featured in the series both as an author and as an advocate.