Margaret Atwood is a Canadian poet and novelist. Her works encompass themes, such as religion and myth, climate change, and gender and identity. An award-winning writer, many of Atwood's works have been made into films and television series; her work, The Handmaid's Tale, has had several adaptations. Perhaps, Margaret Atwood's most important contribution is her invention of the LongPen device.
Meg Tilly is an actress best known for her role in the drama mystery film Agnes of God, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She began her career as a dancer and eventually took up acting roles. She loves to write as a hobby and is the author of many novels.
Alex Awards winning Irish-Canadian playwright, literary historian, short story writer, novelist, and screenwriter Emma Donoghue is best known for authoring award winning novels like Room and Hood. Room, an international best-seller, was adapted into a film bearing same title that not only emerged as a critical and commercial success but also garnered four Oscar nominations at the 88th Academy Awards.
Canadian author and social reformer Nellie McClung had struck gold with her first novel, Sowing Seeds in Danny, a bestseller. She also spoke widely about woman suffrage and was part of the Alberta legislature. She was part of The Famous Five, a group of women who launched the Persons Case.
English-Canadian writer Susanna Moodie is best known for her realistic depictions of her life in “the bush” or the wilderness of Canada, which was a British colony back in her time. Her most popular work remains Roughing it in the Bush. She had initially also penned several children’s stories.
Mariko Tamaki is a Canadian writer and artist best known for her graphic novels like This One Summer and Skim. In 2016, she started writing for both DC Comics and Marvel. Mariko Tamaki is the recipient of several prestigious awards such as the Joe Shuster Award, Ignatz Award, and Doug Wright Award.
Mavis Gallant was a Canadian writer who specialized in writing short stories. A critically acclaimed writer, Gallant was honored with several prestigious awards including the Matt Cohen Prize. In addition to short stories, Mavis Gallant also wrote novels, plays, and essays.
Canadian author Mazo de la Roche is best known for her 16-book Jalna series of novels. She became one of the most-loved family saga novelists of her time. She dictated much of her later work her adopted sister Clement, as she suffered from arthritis in her hands.
Sci-fi author Judith Josephine Grossman, better known by her pen-name, Judith Merril, is also known for editing several anthologies. After her father’s suicide, she was raised by her mother in the Bronx. That Only A Mother remains one of her best-known short stories and has been part of many anthologies.
Anne Michaels is a Canadian novelist and poet whose works have been published in over 45 countries. Her novels, such as Fugitive Pieces, have also been adapted into films. Michaels, who served as the poet laureate of Toronto from 2016 to 2019, has received several awards like the Orange Prize, the Lannan Award for Fiction, and the Guardian Fiction Prize.
Marie-Claire Blais is a French Canadian writer, poet, and playwright. Born into a blue-collar family, she was unable to pursue full-time education. However, she did attend a few classes at Université Laval and began her literary career at the age of 20. She eventually became a successful author with numerous novels, plays, and poetry collections to her name.
Catharine Parr Traill moved from England to Canada after her marriage and soon became one of the greatest authors of children’s and settlers’ literature of her time. Her writings reflected the charm of the Canadian countryside. Her letters to her mother in England were collated in The Backwoods of Canada.
Known widely as Canada's Conscience, journalist, author, and activist June Callwood had been associated with several publications, such as The Globe and Mail. She also established some of the first charity centers for women in Canada, opposed abortion laws, and co-founded the Writer’s Union of Canada.
Anne Hébert was a French Canadian poet and author who won the Governor General's Award, which is regarded as Canada's top literary honor, on three occasions. During her career, she also won other prestigious awards like the Molson Prize and the Ludger-Duvernay Prize. Hébert's works have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, English, and German.
Susan Musgrave is a Canadian poet and writer of children’s literature. She started writing as a child and published her first work when she was 16. She has authored several collections of poems, fiction, and children’s literature. Besides writing, she teaches creative writing at the University of British Columbia. She was married to Stephen Reid, a writer and convicted criminal.
Acadian novelist and playwright Antonine Maillet initially taught literature and folklore at various institutes, such as the University of Montreal. She later worked as a scriptwriter and host for Radio-Canada, before penning popular works such as the play The Sagouine and the award-winning books Don l'Orignal and Pélagie-la-Charrette.
Isabella Valancy Crawford was a Canadian poet and writer. The author of Malcolm's Katie, a popular poem held in high regard in the history of Canadian poetry, Crawford is widely regarded as Canada's first major poet. She made a living using her skills as a freelance writer, one of the first Canadians to do so.
Susan Goyette is a Canadian novelist and poet whose first poetry book was nominated for several prestigious awards, including the 1999 Governor General's Award. In 2017, she served as a judge for the Griffin Poetry Prize. A celebrated writer, Susan Goyette was named Halifax's eighth poet laureate in April 2020.