Kyo Maclear was born in London, England and moved to Canada at the age of four. She is a Toronto-based visual arts writer, novelist and children's author. Her essays and art criticism have appeared in Shambhala Sun, Saturday Night, The Guardian, Canadian Art, Brick, This Magazine, West Coast Line, The Literary Review of Canada, Capilano Review, Fuse, and Toronto Life. She is the former editor of Mix: the magazine of independent art and culture, and co-editor of Life Style by Bruce Mau (Phaidon). She holds an Honours B.A. in Fine Art and Art History and an M.A. in Cultural Studies. Her first novel, The Letter Opener (HarperCollins, 2007), was praised by The Montreal Gazette as a "rich and seamless tapestry … Like the masterful Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, Maclear creates a layered world that is both real and dream-like … It is hard to believe that this is a first novel. Maclear is a writer with many gifts, all on display in this strong debut." Her second novel is Stray Love (HarperCollins 2012).She is the author of two children's books Spork (Kids Can, 2010) and Virginia Wolf (Kids Can, 2012).She is represented by Jackie Kaiser of Westwood Creative Artists.