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Zelda (b Cohen) Heller. Administrator, music and drama critic, b New Brunswick, NJ, 2 Dec 1922, died Victoria 4 Aug 2012, naturalized Canadian 1972; B SC (Juilliard) 1945, MA (Columbia) 1948.

Anne Carson, CM, poet, essayist, classical scholar and professor (born 21 June 1950 in Toronto, ON).

Sheila Fischman, translator (born at Moose Jaw, SK 1 Dec 1937). Born in Saskatchewan, Sheila Fischman's family moved 2 years later to run the general store in Elgin, Ontario, where they were the only JEWISH family in the small town until they moved to Toronto.

Anna Harriette Edwards Leonowens (born 6 November 1831 in Ahmadnagar, India; died 19 January 1915 in Montreal, Quebec). Anna Leonowens was an educator, author and lecturer who became famous as the British governess to the wives and children of King Mongkut (Rama IV) of Siam (now Thailand) in the 1860s. After leaving Siam, she emigrated to Canada, where she advocated for women’s suffrage, taught at McGill University and helped found what is now the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. She was the inspiration for Margaret Landon’s historical novel, Anna and the King of Siam (1944), and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I (1951).

Frère Marie-Victorin (born Conrad Kirouac), member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, botanist, teacher (born 3 April 1885 in Kingsey Falls, QC; died 15 July 1944 in St-Hyacinthe, QC). A self-taught botanist, Frère Marie-Victorin was the first chair of botany at Université de Montréal, founder of the Institut de Botanique and the Montréal Botanical Garden, and author of Flore laurentienne (1935). He also co-founded the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences, the Société canadienne d'histoire naturelle, and the Cercles des jeunes naturalistes, and actively promoted science in popular as well as academic publications. A French Canadian nationalist, Marie-Victorin believed that knowledge of Québec’s natural world would inspire pride in French Canadians and enable them to take possession of their land.

Bonnie Sherr Klein, director, producer, author, motivational speaker, disability rights activist (b at Philadelphia, Penn 1 April 1941).

Kim Thúy, CQ, writer (born 18 September 1968 in Saigon, Vietnam). The winner of several prestigious literary awards for her first novel, Ru, this Quebec writer of Vietnamese origin is known for her short and elegant stories. Her novels deal with the migrant experience and the challenges of adapting to a new culture. Written in French, which Thúy calls her “second mother tongue,” they have been translated into 15 languages.

Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, journalist, novelist, essayist, playwright, publisher, polemicist (b at Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Que, 2 Sep 1945).

Alain Grandbois, poet (b at St-Casimir, Qué 25 May 1900; d at Québec City 18 Mar 1975). He is considered the first great modern Québec poet. He travelled the world 1918-39 and shared the hopes and problems of contemporary man.

​When I was 16, someone gave me a copy of an anthology of Canadian love poems called Love Where the Nights Are Long. In it were poems by Alden Nowlan, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Avison — and P.K. Page.

Yves Michaud, journalist, diplomat and politician (born 13 February 1930 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec).

Mary Jane Michelle Tisseyre (née Ahern), OC, television host, journalist and translator (born 13 December 1918 in Montréal, QC; died 21 December 2014 in Montréal).

Alissa York, writer, educator (born at Athabasca, AB 1970). Alissa York studied English literature at McGill University and considered a life in zoology or biology because of her love of animals.

(Mary) Helen Creighton.

Alan Bradley, writer, media technologist and teacher (born at Toronto, Ont, 1938). Alan Bradley was raised in Cobourg Ontario.

Claude-Henri Grignon, OC, journalist, critic, novelist, author of radio and TV serials (born 8 July 1894 in Sainte-Adèle, QC; died 3 April 1976 in Sainte-Adèle).

Alphonse Desjardins, journalist, parliamentary reporter, founder of the Desjardins Group (born 5 November 1854 in Lévis, Québec; died 31 October 1920 in Lévis, Québec).

Arlette Cousture, novelist (b at Saint-Lambert 3 Apr 1948). With a Bachelor of Arts from collège Sainte-Marie and education in cultural and theatre activities from the Université du Québec à Montréal, Arlette Cousture practised various professions before devoting herself to writing.

Arthur A. Clappé. Bandmaster, composer, writer, b Cork, Ireland, 1850; d 22 Nov 1920. Clappé studied at the Trinity College of Music, London and the Royal Military School of Music (England) (Kneller Hall). He served in Canada as director of the Governor General's Foot Guards Band 1877-84.

​Anne Michaels, poet, novelist (born 15 April 1958 in Toronto, ON). Winner of the Commonwealth Prize as well as the Trillium Book Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction.