Howard O'Hagan

Howard O'Hagan (February 17, 1902 – September 18, 1982) was a Canadian writer.[1] One of the first significant writers to have been born in Western Canada, he was most noted for his 1939 novel Tay John.[2]

Born in Lethbridge, Alberta, O'Hagan worked as a surveyor in the Canadian Rockies as a young adult before studying law at McGill University; however, once graduating he practiced law for only a month before leaving the occupation and returning to work as a mountain guide.[1] He subsequently worked for a time as head of publicity for the Central Argentine Railway.[1]

He was married to artist Margaret Peterson, with whom he resided in a variety of international locations before settling in Victoria, British Columbia.[1]

Tay John, his most significant published work, was a fictionalized account of the life of Tête Jaune, an Iroquois fur trader who was a significant figure in the development of the Canadian West.[2] His later works included Wilderness Men (1958), The Woman Who Got on at Jasper Station and Other Stories (1963) and The School Marm Tree (1977).[3]

Following O'Hagan's death, Tay John was reissued by McClelland and Stewart's New Canadian Library series in 1989,[4] and the Writers Guild of Alberta created the Howard O'Hagan Award for Short Fiction to honour short story collections published by Alberta writers.[5]