List of Canadian writers
An alphabetical list of Canadian Literary figures, including poets, novelists, children's writers, essayists, and scholars.
- Milton Acorn (1923-1986) poet, has published 18 volumes of poetry
- Ian Adams (born 1937)
- Linda Aksomitis (nee Demyen) (born 1951?) novels, travel, poetry under pseudonym Sunflower Sue, manual for use of serger.
- Charlotte Vale Allen (a.k.a. Katherine Marlowe) (born 1941) romantic novels, expert on child abuse
- Grant Allen (1848-1899), The Woman Who Did
- Sidney Allinson
- George Amabile (born 1936)
- Rod Anderson
- Hubert Aquin (1929-1977) modernist Quebecois novelist
- Gilles Archambault (born 1933)
- Jeannette Armstrong
- David Arnason
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939) The Handmaid's Tale (1985), Alias Grace, Surfacing
- Margaret Avison (born 1918) poet, has published 8 volumes of poetry
- Phillipe-Ignace Francois Aubert du Gaspe (1814-1841), author of the first French Canadian novel.
- D.F. Bailey
- Himani Bannerji
- Volodimir Barabash
- Bruce Barber
- Steve Bareham
- Gary Barwin (born 1964) novelist and children's author
- Ronald Bates
- Bill Bauer
- Nancy Bauer
- Henry Beissel, (born 1929)
- William Bell
- Nigel Bennett
- Pierre Berton (born 1920) prolific author of Canadian History, journalist and TV personality, popularizer of Canadian history
- Dennison Berwick (born 1956), literary travel author now working in fiction
- Gerard Bessette (born 1920), Quebecois author
- Carol Biberstein, children's book Great Grandma's Rocking Chair
- Sandra Birdsell, (born 1942), has published 3 works of short fiction and 3 novels, wrote The Two-Headed Calf
- Earle Birney (1904-1995) anti-conventional poet, also wrote novels, short stories, drama
- Bill Bissett (born 1939) poet, famous for incorporating sound and the visual into poetry
- Neil Bissoondath (born 1955)
- Marie-Claire Blais
- Clark Blaise (born 1940)
- Christian Bok (born 1966), poet, author of Eunoia
- Stephanie Bolster
- Roo Borson, (born 1952)
- Nidholas Boving
- George Bowering (born 1935)
- Marilyn Bowering (born 1949), poet and novelist
- David Boyd
- George Elroy Boyd
- Catherine Bradford
- Karleen Bradford
- Max Braithwaite (1911-1995) prairie depression era fiction
- Dionne Brand (1953- ) poet born in Trinidad
- Di Brandt (1952 - ) Manitoba poet and literary critic
- Jaques Brault (1933- )
- Brian Brett
- Robert Bringhurst (1946- ) poet
- David Bromige (1944- ) poet
- Bertram Brooker theosophist painter
- Nicole Brossard (1943- ) formalist poet
- Robert Budde (1966- ) poet and novelist
- Margaret Buffie
- Bonnie Burnard (1945- ) novelist, The Good House
- Mick Burrs
- Sharon Butala (1940- )
- Anthony M. Buzzelli
- Barry Callaghan (1937- ) novelist and journalist
- Morley Callaghan (1903-1990) novelist and writer of short fiction, wrote A Fine and Private Place
- Elspeth MacGregor Cameron, (1943- ) biographer
- Silver Donald Cameron (1937- )
- James Cameron (1910- ) poet and critic
- Phil Campagna
- Bliss Carman (1861-1929) poet, wrote Low Tide on Grand Pre
- David Carpenter
- Roch Carrier (1937- ) French-Canadian novelist and writer of short fiction, wrote La Guerre? Yes sir? also landmark childerns story The Sweater
- Anne Carson, (1950- )
- Gillian Chan
- Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761), first historian of New France.
- Wayson Choy (1939- )
- Leslie Choyce (1951- )
- Greg Clark (1892-1977), humourist
- Austin Clarke (1934- )
- George Elliott Clarke (1960- ) poet, U of T professor
- Lynn Coady (1970- )
- Leonard Cohen, (1934- ), poet and singer
- Matt Cohen (1942- )
- Samuel Nathan Cohen (1923-1971) drama critic
- Helena Coleman
- John Robert Columbo (1936- ), poet and complier of reference books
- Karen Connelly (1969- )
- Ralph Conner (AKA Charles William Gordon), The Man from Glengarry, Glengarry School Days.
- George Ramsay Cook (1931- ), historian
- Hugh Cook (1942- )
- Michael Cook
- Dennis Cooley (1944- )
- Doug Cooper
- John Paul Copeland
- Thomas Costain (1885-1965), historical fiction
- Douglas Coupland, (born 1961), Generation X, Girlfriend in a Coma
- Isabella Valancy Crawford
- Donald Creighton (1902-1979), historian
- Claude Cremazie (1827-1879), French-Canadian poet
- Lynn Crosbie daring prose stylist
- Lorna Crozier (1948- )
- Peter Cummings
- Alan Cumyn (1960- )
- Richard Cumyn
- Herb Curtis
- Leona Czwartkowski
- Annie Charlton Dalton
- Frank Davey (1940- )
- Robertson Davies, (1913-1995) wrote Fifth Business (1970), publisher, professor, journalist
- Mazo de la Roche (1879-1961), Jalna saga
- Sandra Dempsey
- Barry Dempster
- Alexander Dewdney computer science and philosophy
- Christopher Dewdney (1951- )
- Kildare Dobbs (1923- ) short story writer
- Don Domanski (1950- )
- Heather Down
- Candas Dorsey (1960- )
- William Henry Drummond, (1854-1907), poet, The habitant
- Réjean Ducharme (1941- )
- Louis Dudek (1918- ), poet
- Dave Duncan (1933- )
- Margaret Dyment
- C. J. Everon, (born 1971), historian and novelist: Justice Better Attained
- Edmundo Farolan
- Brian Fawcett
- Trevor Ferguson
- B.K. Filson
- Timothy Findley, (1930-2002), Pilgrim
- Sheree Fitch
- Judith Fitzgerald
- Barbara Fletcher
- Cecil Foster
- Tess Fragoulis
- Raymond Fraser author of "Rum River", Costa Blanca", etc.
- Louis Fréchette, (1839-1908), poet, essayist, journalist, dramatist
- Patrick Friesen
- Robert Froetsch
- Northrop Frye (1912-1991), influential critic, Shakespeare and Blake scholar
- Robert Fulford autodictat, journalist
- Nicola Furlong
- James V. Fusco
- Grover Gall
- Mavis Gallant (born 1922)
- Saint-Denys Garneau
- Margaret Gibson
- William Gibson (born 1948) Pioneering cyberpunk author, Neuromancer, All Tomorrow's Parties
- Joanna Glass
- Jacques Godbout
- David Godfrey
- Leona Gom
- Hiromi Goto
- Katherine Govier
- Barbara Gowdy The Romantic; The White Bone and short stories
- Neile Graham
- John Grey
- Frederick Phillip Grove
- Richard Grove
- Genni Gunn
- Joan Haggerty
- Roderick Haig-Brown
- Arthur Hailey (born 1920), indefatigable researcher, author of Hotel (1965), Airport (1968)
- Thomas Chandler Haliburton way old humorist: Uncle Sam beard puller, author of The Clockmaker series
- Jane Hamilton
- Claire Harris
- Marjorie Harris
- Elisabeth Harvor
- Barbara Haworth-Attard
- Anne Hebert, Acadian author, educator Kamouraska
- Louis Hémon (1880-1913), novelist and journalist, Maria Chapdelaine
- John Herbert
- Tomson Highway native playwright Dry Lips Moved to Kapuskasing
- Robert Hilles
- Jack Hodgins
- Greg Hollingshead
- Hugh Hood Montreal Anglo poet. Master work is 10 volume novel.
- Cornelia Hoogland
- Jan Horner
- Harold Horwood
- Matt Hughes
- Bruce Hunter
- Catherine Hunter
- Maureen Hunter
- Nancy Huston (born 1953)
- Hazel Hutchins
- Bruce Hutchison
- Michael Ignatieff
- Susan Ioannou
- Joan Irvine
- Donald Jack (1924-2003)
- J. Robert Janes (born 1932)
- K.V. Johansen
- Pauline E. Johnson
- Andy Jones comedic playwright and performer
- Terry Jordan
- John Joyce
- Surjeet Kalsey
- Smaro Kamboureli
- Welwyn Wilton Katz
- Guy Gavriel Kay fantasy genre fiction
- Lionel Kearns
- Adam Kidd
- Crawford Kilian
- Crad Kilodney
- W.P. Kinsella writes novels about baseball and natives Field of Dreams
- Thomas King
- Alex Kizuk
- Raymond Knister
- Joy Kogawa, Obasan
- Lawrence Kootnikoff
- Myrna Kostash
- Henry Kriesel
- Robert Kroetsch
- Robert N.Kucey, (1940- )
- Tim Lander
- Patrick Lane
- Evelyn Lau
- Margaret Laurence (1926 - 1987) novelist, wrote "The Stone Angel"
- Irving Layton
- Stephen Leacock, (1869-1944), McGill University economics and poltical science prof. text book writer and intenational renowned humorist
- Dennis Lee - writer of children's poetry
- Sky Lee
- Mark Leiren-Young
- John Lent
- Dorothy Livesay
- Malcolm Lowry, (1909-1957) wrote Under the Volcano in Canada (1947)
- Agnes Maule Machar
- Ann-Marie MacDonald
- Bernell MacDonald, (1950-)
- Hugh MacDonald
- Jake MacDonald
- Gwendolyn MacEwen
- Isabel Ecclestone Mackay
- Hugh MacLennan (1907 - 1990) novelist and essayist, wrote Two Solitudes and Barometer Rising
- Alistair MacLeod, (1936- )
- Antonine Maillet, Acadian author, educator
- Kevin Major
- Eli Mandel
- Miriam Mandel
- Lee Maracle
- Daphne Marlatt
- John Marlyn, (1912-1985)
- David Margoshes
- Nicole Markotic
- Yann Martel, (born 1963), 2002 Booker Prize Winner
- Carol Matas
- Shirlee Smith Matheson
- Steve McCaffery
- Nellie McClung crusanding journalist, MP,
- John McCrae, (1872-1918), ("In Flanders' Fields")
- David McFadden
- James McIntyre, (1827-1906), the "Cheese Poet," known as the worst poet in Canadian history
- Don McKay poet
- Rhonda McLean
- Marshall McLuhan, (1911-1980), English professor and media studies author
- Susan McMaster
- Robert McNeil
- Sylvia McNicoll
- John Metcalf
- Anne Michaels
- Christine Michels
- Roy Miki
- Rohinton Mistry, (born 1952), Such a Long Journet, A Fine Balance
- jane Mitchell
- Jared Mitchell
- W.O. Mitchell Who has Seen the Wind
- Lucy Maude Montgomery, (1874-1942), Anne of Green Gables
- Susanna Moodie (nee Strickland), (1803-1885), Roughing it in the Bush
- Brian Moore
- Keith Moreau, (born 1951), writer and illustrator of children's books like ABC Fun Things Book
- Edythe Morahan de Lauzon, poet
- Bernice Morgan
- Kim Morrisse
- Colin Morton
- Daniel David Moses
- Tara Moss (1973- ) - wrote Fetish
- Erin Moure
- Farley Mowat, (1921- ) Never Cry Wolf, My Discovery of America
- Karen Mulholland
- Robert Munsch - American born writer of children's stories
- Allison Muri
- Alice Munro, (1931- )
- John Murrell
- Jai Murugan
- Susan Musgrave, poet
- Brian Nation
- Émile Nelligan, (1879-1941), French-Canadian poet
- John Newlove
- George D. Nicholls
- Kimberlley Nickmann
- bpNichol poet
- James Norman
- Alden Nowlan
- Sheldon Oberman
- Michael Ondaatje, (1943- ) wrote The English Patient (1993)
- P.K. Page
- Len Peterson
- Marjorie Pickthall
- Ted Plantos
- Simone Poirier-Bures
- Daniel Poliquin
- Sharon Pollock
- Jacques Poulin, "The "Jimmy" Trilogy" (translated titled)
- E.J. Pratt poet
- Robert Priest poet
- E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
- Jean Baptiste Proulx, (1846-1904), dramatist and essayist
- Al Purdy poet
- Darlene Quaife
- Paul Quarrington
- Gurcharan Rampuri
- Nino Ricci
- David Adams Richards, (1950- )
- Mordecai Richler, (1931-2001) The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959)
- Gwen Pharis Ringwood
- Sir Charles G.D. Roberts author of a number of "animal stories"
- Ken Roberts
- Paul William Roberts
- Spider Robinson American born Science-Fiction/humour writer, "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon"
- Don Rogalski
- Linda Rogers
- Leon Rooke
- Sinclair Ross renowned short story author
- Gabrielle Roy, (1909-1983)The Tin Flute
- George Ryga
- Rick Salutin political writer, essayist editor
- John Ralston Saul businessman, essayist, diplomat
- Robert J. Sawyer
- Andreas Schroeder
- Alvin Schwartz
- Shyam Selvadurai
- Robert Service poet of the Yukon
- Mark Shainblum
- Murphy O. Shewchuk
- Carol Shields, (1935-2003)
- Marsha Skrypush
- Joseph Skvorecky Chekoslovakian born Canadian novelist, English professor
- Beverly Slopen
- Esta Spalding
- Elizabeth Smart, (1913-1986)
- Russell E. Smith
- Taylor Smith
- Brik Sproxton
- Richard Stevenson
- Kathy Stinson
- Anne Stone
- Samuel Strickland, (1804-1867) Twenty-seven Years in Canada West
- Rita Summers
- james L. Swanson
- Robert Sward
- Mark Swartz
- George Swede
- Anne Szumigalski
- Kevin Taylor
- Sharon Thesen
- Audrey Thomas
- Ernest Thompson Seton (1860-1946) wrote about the Canadian wilderness
- John Thompson
- Elizabeth Thornton
- Catherine Parr Traill (nee Strickland) (1802-1899), Life in the Backwoods of Canada
- Rhea Tregebov
- Michel Tremblay (born 1942)
- Dietmar Trommeshauser
- Maxine Trottier
- Stuart Douglas Trueman
- Elise Turcotte
- Michael Turner
- Jane Urquhart (born 1949), novelist
- W.D. Valgardson, The Girl with the Bottecelli Face
- Edo Van Belkom
- Guy Vandergaeghe
- Kees Vanderhayden
- Brain Vanderlip
- Aritha Van Herk
- M.G. Vassanji
- David Watmough
- Fred Wah
- Bronwen Wallace
- Ted Warnell
- Alison Wearing
- Rudy Weibe
- John Weier
- Elizabeth Wellburn
- Frank Westcott
- Mavis West
- Thomas Wharton
- Diana Wieler
- Ethel Wilson, Swamp Angel, Hettie Dorval, "The Window"
- Rob Winger
- Beverly Wood
- George Woodcock (1912-1995), poet, critic and anarchist, author of Anarchism
- Patrick Woodcock
- lance Woolaver
- L.R. Wright
- Robert L.J. Zenik
- Jan Zwicky
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