John Degen

Mr. John Degen is Executive Director of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC), and Chair of the International Authors Forum (IAF) in the UK – serving and representing over 700,000 authors worldwide.  He is a poet and novelist with three published books.  Mr. Degen has worked for many years as an arts administrator, arts funder, and policy advocate on cultural issues.  He is the previous Literature Officer at the Ontario Arts Council, where he administered funding for Ontario’s writers, publishers and literary presenters, and was active in expanding the granting reach for that office into Ontario’s northern and indigenous communities.  His essays and opinions have been published widely throughout Canada, including in The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, THIS Magazine, The Hill Times, Canadian Notes and Queries, and the Literary Review of Canada. Mr. Degen has served on many boards and advisories in the literary and arts sector.  His debut novel, The Uninvited Guest, was shortlisted for the 2006 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.