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 Samuel Hearne (February 1745 – November 1792) was an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, actually Coronation Gulf, via the C ...

), ''Lady Franklin's Revenge'' (

Jane Franklin Jane, Lady Franklin (née Griffin; 4 December 1791 – 18 July 1875) was the second wife of the English explorer Sir John Franklin. During her husband's period as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, she became known for her philanthropic ...

), and ''Race to the Polar Sea'' (

Elisha Kent Kane Elisha Kent Kane (February 3, 1820 – February 16, 1857) was a United States Navy medical officer and Arctic explorer. He served as assistant surgeon during Caleb Cushing's journey to China to negotiate the Treaty of Wangxia and in the Af ...

). Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

(1947) and raised in a francophone town, McGoogan has traveled widely, both in Canada and abroad. After attending

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène ...

, 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 research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. 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. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', '' The Montreal Star'', and ''

The Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The Ca ...

''. 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

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 organization ...

for "a work of artistic excellence that affirms the highest values of the human spirit." His book ''

Fatal Passage {{unreferenced, date=November 2021 ''Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin'' is a book by Canadian historian and writer Ken McGoogan. It was first published in 2001. The book formed ...

'' evolved into an award-winning docudrama, ''

Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

'', on which he served as a consultant.

Selected works

''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 {{noref, date=November 2021 ''Lady Franklin's Revenge: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession and the Remaking of Arctic History'' is a non-fiction book by Canadian historian and writer Ken McGoogan. It was published in 2005. Summary Denied a rol ...

: A True Story of Ambition, Obsession and the Remaking of Arctic History'', 2005. ''Ancient Mariner: The Amazing Adventures of

, the Sailor Who Walked to the Arctic Ocean'', 2003. ''Going For Gold''. co-authored with Catriona Le May Doan, 2002. ''

: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin'', 2001. ''Chasing Safiya'', 1999. ''Calypso Warrior'', 1995. ''Kerouac'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 website

Ken McGoogan at the Canadian Historical Society

Ken McGoogan at Harper Collins Canada

Interview and Review by Brett Hooton

Christopher Award

Ken McGoogan at Writers' Union of Canadsa
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGoogan, Ken 1947 births Living people 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian biographers Male biographers Canadian male novelists Canadian male non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian historians