Famous Canadian Writers

Canada not only represents a diverse, sporting society full of hospitality. It is also the birthplace of
some of the most prominent writers on the literary scene, who have been able to capture in texts
the predominant multiculturalism in the country through a deep nationalist sense.

Canada's famous writers have worked in a wide variety of literary genres. The work of these
personalities has exposed the cultural and social disputes between people who speak English and
native speakers of French. Irony, satire, humor and a slight rivalry with the US predominate in his
writings.

The narrative has been able to perfectly describe the life of small towns and the most vulnerable
part of society, especially after the Second World War, when Canadian writers began to gain
ground in the world of Literature with their inspiring stories and packed with a high level of
realism.

Some famous Canadian writers are:

1.) Margaret Atwood

(1939)

Margaret Eleanor Atwood (Ottawa, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, professor, literary critic and
political activist, known as one of the most influential representatives of her country
internationally. She is a member of the NGO “Amnesty International” and is co-director of Birdlife
International, a bird advocacy group.

Due to her father's connection to environmental research, Atwood lived her childhood between
Toronto, Quebec and Ottawa. He graduated from the University of Toronto and Harvard, and then
taught at various institutions in Canada, the US and Australia until the late 1980s.

He began to write formally at the age of 16, and since then, his literary production has not
stopped. Poems, novels, short stories, essays and children's books are Atwood's preferred genres
to express her anti-humanistic vision of unraveling the archetypes that shape the individual and
society.

Among his most notable works are:

The Handmaid's Tale

Alias Grace
The wills

2.) Alice Munro

(1931)

Alice Ann Munro (Wingham, 1931) is a Canadian storyteller specialized in creating stories. She is
considered one of the most important writers in the English language, and the legacy of her work
was recognized with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.

Munro spent much of his childhood on a farm in Wingham, Ontario, in a context of economic
depression. This period of his life, linked to rural life, was crucial for his literary production and
serves as the background for most of his stories. After her divorce in 1972, she worked as a
teacher and began to consolidate her path as a writer.

His fiction is characterized by a strong link with the regional. The small towns, their customs and
traditions, represent the perfect environment to capture the essence of the common man and
woman. Munro's work encompasses love and work as central themes, and how the flaws of each
affect people's lives.

Among his most notable works are:

women's lives

Too much happiness

My dear life.

3.) Leonard Cohen

(1934 – 2016)

Leonard Cohen (Montreal, 1934 – Los Angeles, 2016) was a Canadian novelist, poet and singer-
songwriter, considered one of the greatest figures of the American folk genre of the 1960s and
1970s, as well as for the strength of his literary production. reflected in his novels, poems and
songbooks.

His work was widely influenced by authors such as Federico García Lorca, W.B. Yeats and Walt
Whitman, showing that his favorite genre was poetry. Although literature was always a priority, he
had a successful musical career. His poetic work is framed in the period between 1951 and 1966,
when he signed his first record contract.
Cohen's prose is very emotional and has great lyrical complexity to expose his vision of topics such
as religion, love and relationships. The metaphors and wordplay focused on negative feelings led
to it being considered by the media as “the most powerful non-chemical depressant in the world.”

Among his most notable works are:

The flame

7.) Alistair MacLeod

(1936 – 2014)

Alistair MacLeod (North Battleford, 1936 – Ontario, 2014) was a Canadian author specializing in
short stories, whose work has been translated into several languages. His literary production is
small, and includes only 16 stories. Each of his books had a creation time of 10 years.

MacLeod studied from 1957 to 1960 at Saint Francis Xavier University, where he earned his
bachelor's degree. In 1968, he obtained his doctorate from the University of Notre Dame, USA. He
taught British literature and worked for three years at Indiana University, then continued his work
at the University of Windsor until his retirement.

McLeod's short literary production responds to his detailed style and an obsessive perfectionism
that the author acknowledged on more than one occasion. In his stories, immigration, family,
human vanities and tragedy converge in an environment between reality and imagination.

Among his most notable works are:

Blood of my Blood.