Reardon, Lisa
January 22, 1962—
Place of Birth: Milan, MI
Place of Principal Residence: Southwestern Michigan
Biography
Lisa Anne Hicks (later changed to Reardon) was born and raised in Milan, MI on January 22, 1962. After graduating from high school, Reardon supported herself with a variety of jobs, including working as a pharmacist’s cashier and as a motel night clerk, in addition to attending college. After earning her BA in English and Theatre from the University of Michigan in 1989, Reardon went to study playwriting at the Yale School of Drama. During this time, The Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, MI picked one of Reardon’s plays, Blush at Nothing, to be their first production. In 1992 Reardon graduated with her MA in Playwriting and moved to New York City, there changing her name to Reardon. For several years she wrote plays for local theatres, but quit because of the difficulties working with theatrical companies. Her first break into novel writing came with the release of her first book, Billy Dead in 1997. With this success, Reardon was able to quit her job as a word processor for a Manhattan bank and focus on her writing full-time. She continued to publish books while teaching novel writing and short fiction for New York’s Gotham Writer’s Workshop and running a writing workshop for teens in the Adolescent Psychiatric Division of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. Reardon has spent some time in Chicago, working with the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center to form a creative writing workshop, but now resides in Michigan. She is simultaneously employed at Boysville, a security/treatment center for teens, and as a writer.
Selected Works
Plays:
- The Sweet Trade
- Gloria
- Blush at Nothing
- Cost of Living
- Wendy and Danny
- Dove
Novels:
- The Mercy Killers
- Blameless
- Billy Dead
Awards
- First Place, La Plume des Femmes Playwriting Competition, Jacksonville FL, 1990
- 1992 Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship, Manhattan Theatre Club
- 1994 Berrilla Kerr Grant for Playwrights
- Billy Dead one of “Twenty Notable First Novels of 1998” by Booklist
- Blameless named a finalist for the Great Lakes Booksellers Association Award
- 2005 Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
Critical Reception
Reardon is known for writing horror-type plots that spark controversy. Through her mastery of writing, she is able to deliver tragic and shocking storylines. She creates certain emotions in the reader by managing the plot so precisely. She pays excellent attention to character development.
For Billy Dead:
As much dysfunctional family portrait as mystery, this is an honest, thought-provoking slice
of a not-yet-wasted young life. This book should find a home in public libraries, large and small.
- Library Journal
Reardon falters in straining for a redemptive conclusion, but that doesn’t diminish her overall accomplishment: this is a compelling work,
reminiscent of both Dorothy Allison and Caroline Chute, that evokes empathy for those who lead bleak, savage lives and even finds a measure of
dignity and love in people raised in a world where all the rules and taboos are broken on a daily basis.
- Publishers Weekly
“...this is an extremely powerful novel, but whether you want to read it depends on your stomach for human—or, better said, subhuman—ugliness.
- The New York Times Book Review
“Reardon’s tour of upstate Michigan may not be scenic, but it’s not soon forgotten.”
- The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review
“Reardon writes in a masterful, an artfully quiet, and a most unfabulous way, which has the effect of making this tale seem acceptable. If this
one doesn’t cause a buzz, then our collective consciousness is more damaged than we thought.
- Booklist
Relevance of Place to Author’s Work
Lisa’s third novel, The Mercy Killers, is set in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1969. She returned to Michigan recently, as she grew up there.