Kenneth McGoogan (born 1947)
[.] is the Canadian author of fifteen books, including ''Flight of the Highlanders'', ''Dead Reckoning'', ''50 Canadians Who Changed the World'', ''How the Scots Invented Canada'', and four biographical narratives focusing on northern exploration and published internationally: ''Fatal Passage'' (
John Rae), ''Ancient Mariner'' (
Samuel Hearne), ''Lady Franklin's Revenge'' (
Jane Franklin), and ''Race to the Polar Sea'' (
Elisha Kent Kane).
Born in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
(1947) and raised in a francophone town, McGoogan has traveled widely, both in Canada and abroad. After attending
Sir George Williams University, he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at
Ryerson and a master's degree in creative writing at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
.
For two decades, while producing one nonfiction book and three novels, McGoogan earned his living as a journalist and literary editor, working at ''
The Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division.
The newspaper was establis ...
'', ''
The Montreal Star'', and ''
The Calgary Herald''. He has served as a writer-in-residence in Toronto, Fredericton, Dawson City, Hobart (Tasmania) and Stromness (Orkney). He served as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, sails as a lecturer with Adventure Canada, and writes frequently for Canadian Geographic, Celtic Life International, and the Globe and Mail. He won an award for teaching excellence at the University of Toronto (Continuing Education) and teaches in the MFA program in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King's College/Dalhousie University.
Awards
McGoogan has won the Pierre Berton Award for popular history, the
Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, the Canadian Authors' Association History Award, the Grant MacEwan Author's Award, a University of Cambridge fellowship, the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...
medal for Canadian biography, and an American
Christopher Award
The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...
for "a work of artistic excellence that affirms the highest values of the human spirit." His book ''
Fatal Passage'' evolved into an award-winning docudrama, ''
Passage'', on which he served as a consultant.
Selected works
''Searching for
Franklin: New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery'', 2023.
''Flight of the Highlanders: The Making of Canada'', 2019.
''Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage'', 2017.
''Celtic Lightning: How the Scots and the Irish Created a Canadian Nation'', 2015.
''50 Canadians Who Changed The World'', 2014.
''50 Canadians Who Changed the World'', 2013.
''The Arctic Journals of John Rae'', ed. 2012
''How the Scots Invented Canada'', 2010.
''Race to the Polar Sea: The Heroic Adventures of
Elisha Kent Kane'', 2008
''
Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession and the Remaking of Arctic History'', 2005.
''Ancient Mariner: The Amazing Adventures of
Samuel Hearne, the Sailor Who Walked to the Arctic Ocean'', 2003.
''Going For Gold''. co-authored with Catriona Le May Doan, 2002.
''
Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of
John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin'', 2001.
''Chasing Safiya'', 1999.
''Calypso Warrior'', 1995.
''
Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian pa ...
's Ghost: A Novel'', 1993. (French trans. ''Le Fantôme de Kerouac'')
''Canada's Undeclared War: Fighting Words from the Literary Trenches'', 1991.
References
External links
Official websiteKen McGoogan at the Canadian Historical SocietyKen McGoogan at Harper Collins CanadaInterview and Review by Brett HootonChristopher AwardKen McGoogan at Writers' Union of Canadsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGoogan, Ken
1947 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian historians
21st-century Canadian biographers
Canadian male biographers
Canadian male novelists
21st-century Canadian historians