Herman Arthur Voaden, FRSA (19 January 1903 – 27 June 1991) was a Canadian playwright. Early life Born in London, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in 1923 and a Master of Arts degree in 1926 from Queen's University. 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. Political activity A member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, 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. Associations 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). As president of the CAC, he was one of several Canadian representatives to the first UNESCO conference, held in Paris in 1946. Honours 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". 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. Works 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 References External links Herman Arthur Voaden archives at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario 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