Herman Voaden
Herman Arthur Voaden | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1903 London, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | June 27, 1991 (aged 88) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre | Playwright |
| Notable awards | Order of Canada |
Herman Arthur Voaden, CM FRSA (19 January 1903 – 27 June 1991)[1] was a Canadian playwright.[2]
Life and work
[edit]Born in London, Ontario,[1] he received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in 1923 and a Master of Arts degree in 1926 from Queen's University.[3] He also studied at the University of Chicago and at Yale University.
His father, Dr. Arthur Voaden, pioneered vocational teaching in Ontario. His mother, Luisa Bale Voaden, was also a teacher. Voaden studied modern drama at Queen's University, 1920–1923, and wrote his 1926 Queen’s M.A. thesis on Eugene O’Neill.[4]
In 1928 Voaden became head of the English department at the Central High School of Commerce (now the Central Toronto Academy),[3] where he worked for decades. In 1960 his work there was described as "pioneer[ing] in progressive education methods, including the 'play approach' to drama.'"[5]
A member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation,[4] he ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the western Toronto riding of Trinity in the 1945 elections, 1949 elections, 1953 elections, and a 1954 by-election. He lost each time.
Voaden was a member of Toronto's Arts and Letters Club, the Dominion Drama Festival, and a founding member and first president of the Canadian Arts Council (which became the Canadian Conference of the Arts in 1958).[1] As president of the CAC, he was one of several Canadian representatives to the first UNESCO conference, held in Paris in 1946.
Honours
[edit]In 1974, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor, "in recognition of his contribution to the performing arts as a playwright, producer and teacher, and his services in fostering support for all the arts and crafts".[6] He was made a Fellow in the Royal Society of Arts in 1970.
Following his death, Queen's University created the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition to honour new works by emerging playwrights.[7]
Works
[edit]- The White Kingdom (1928)
- Northern Storm (1929)
- Northern Song (1930)
- Western Wolf (1930)
- Fragment (1931)
- Wilderness (1931)
- Earth Song (1932)
- Rocks (1932)
- Hill-Land (1934)
- Murder Pattern (1936)
- Ascend As the Sun (1942)
- Libretto for the opera The Prodigal Son (music by Frederick Jacobi) (debuted 1945)
- Emily Carr: A Stage Biography with Pictures (first performed 1960)[8]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c Wagner 2013.
- ^ Wagner 2004.
- ^ a b Wagner 2021.
- ^ a b York University 2011.
- ^ Voaden 1960, p. ix.
- ^ Order of Canada citation
- ^ Burliuk 1997.
- ^ Wagner 2020.
References
[edit]- Burliuk, Greg (16 August 1997). "Workshops focus on two winning plays". Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 30. ProQuest 353109238.
- Voaden, Herman, ed. (1960). Four Plays of Our Time. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.
- Wagner, Anton (16 December 2013). "Herman Arthur Voaden". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024.
- Wagner, Anton (4 February 2004). "Herman Voaden". The Literary Encyclopedia.
- Wagner, Anton (24 August 2020). "Emily Carr: A Stage Biography with Pictures". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- Wagner, Anton (11 June 2021). "Voaden, Herman". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- York University (16 December 2011). "Herman Arthur Voaden fonds". York University. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
External links
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1903 births
- 1991 deaths
- 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
- Writers from London, Ontario
- Members of the Order of Canada
- Queen's University at Kingston alumni
- Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century Canadian male writers
- Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidates for the Canadian House of Commons