Our Supporters

FREE EXPRESSION MATTERS

The following individuals and organizations have shown their commitment to freedom of expression by supporting PEN Canada for our 2024 fiscal year. We applaud them for championing a world in which writers are free to write, readers are free to read, and freedom of expression prevails.

Last updated June 4,  2024.

 
Glorious and Free Group
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CanadaNewswire
McLean Clinic for Plastic Surgery
Norton Rose
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 Walrus magazine

Honorary Patrons

Margaret Atwood

Gary Beelik

Louise Dennys

Sturla Gunnarsson

Elizabeth Levitt

Rick Mercer 

Jim Ryce

John Ralston Saul

Bequests ($25,000+)

The Estate of Daniel Stoffman,  1945-2023

Gold Patrons ($5,000-$9,999)

Scott Connell and Anouchka Freybe

Peter Grant and Grace Westcott

Yann Martel

Philip Slayton and Cynthia Wine

Silver Patrons ($2,500–$4,999)

Linwood and Neetha Sands Barclay

Karen Ruddy

Patrons ($1,000–$2499)

Sara Angel

Scotia Bhattacharya

Randy and Anna Boyagoda

Adrienne Clarkson

Ron Deibert

Peter Donolo and Mary Cruden

George Galt

Anne Giardini

Nicholas Giardini

Anthony Jeffrey

Nina Josefowitz

Alisha Kaplan

David Kendall

Andrea Lenczner

Louise MacCallum and Michael Barnstijn

Lyndsay Green and Hank Intven

Margaret MacMillan

Ruth Mandel

JoAnn Elizabeth McCaig

Rohinton and Freny Mistry

Laurence Packer

Anna Porter

John Ralston Saul

Richard Stursberg

Jean Teillet

Simon Wallace

Lucy Waverman

The Legacy Society

James Polk and the late Ellen Seligman

Sponsors and Supporters

Platinum (25,000-$49,999)

​​RBC Emerging Artists Project

RBC Foundation

Gold ($15,000-$24,999)

Ontario Arts Council

Bronze ($1000-$14,999) 

Balfour Bowen Family Foundation

Butterfield Family Foundation

Emerald Foundation

Margaret Atwood Extra Pocket Foundation

N.A. Taylor Foundation

Freybe Foundation

Howitt Dunbar Foundation

MacMillan Family Foundation

Michael B. Decter Foundation at Toronto Foundation

Ngan Page Fund

Penguin Random House Canada Limited

Programming Partners

Ageless International Film Festival

Another Story Bookshop

Artists at Risk

Atwater Poetry Project

Atwater Writers Exhibition

Calgary Wordfest

Canada Helps

CBC Radio Ideas

CBC Radio The Current

Centre for Free Expression

The Citizen Lab

Committee to Protect Journalists

Digital Media at the Crossroads Conference 2024

Education Institute (Shelf Control)

Eventbrite

George Brown College

Global Reporting Centre, University of British Columbia

Globe and Mail

Harbourfront Centre Theatre

HotDocs

Human Rights Watch Film Festival

Humber School for Writers 

Hungry Eyes Media

ICORN International Cities of Refuge Network

IFEX

Librairie Drawn and Quarterly

Literary Umbrella of Quebec

LitFest Alberta

National Canadian Film Day

Quebec Writers’ Federation

Reel Canada

Romero House

Scotiabank Theatre

Sutherland House Press

Toronto International Festival of Authors

Toronto Metropolitan University

Toronto Public Libraries

University of British Columbia

Vancouver Institute

WEPFEST

Wordfest Calgary

Writers’ Trust of Canada

Writers’ Union of Canada

In Kind

Authors at Harbourfront Centre

Cision

Jim Ryce Design and Direction Inc.

Literary Review of Canada

Honorary Members

Alaa Abd El-Fattah

Said Abdelkader

Emanuel Asrat

Temesken Ghebreyesus

Mattewos Habteab

Dawit Habtemichael

Medhanie Haile

Dawit Isaak

Yusuf Mohamed Ali

Narges Mohammadi

Seyoum Tsehaye

Fesshaye Yohannes

Members

Will Aitken

Patricia Aldana

Behrouz Aligholi Mayelzadeh

Marion Allan

George Anderson and Charlotte Gray

Jason Anderson

Ken Anderson

Anneli Andre-Barrett

George and Gail Anthony

Rick Archbold

Bert Archer

Sally Armstrong

James Arnett

Said Arvidsson Maslouhi

Ashley Audrain

Khalid Awan

Richard Bachmann

Britta Badour

Marsha Barber

Deborah Barndt

Gavin Barrett

Jim Bartley

Natasha Bartula

Alison Bate

Paul Bennett

Steven Benstead

Barbara Berson

David Bezmozgis

Andrew Binks

Gwen Bird

Peter D. Birt

Ted Bishop

Neil Bissoondath

Robin McBride

Becky Blake

Ronna Bloom

Stephanie Bolster

Michael Bookman

Marian Botsford Fraser

Jane Bow

Lynne Bowen

Marilyn Bowering

Darby Minott Bradford

Niyazi Braim

Mary J. Breen

Max Brem

Rebecca Brill-Argall

Colin Browne

William Bruneau

William Bryant

Nicolas Calvé

Gillian Campbell

Thea Caplan

Alison Carr

Marc Luc Carrier

Claudia Casper

Jennifer Chapin

Delvin Chatterson

Pamela Clark

James Clarke

Kristin Cochrane

Andrew Cohen

Valerie Connor

Margaret Cornish

Jack Costello, S.J.

Susan Coyne

Kerry Craven

Patrick Crean

Jim J. Creskey

Alan Cumyn

Marin Darmonkow

Farida Darvish

Gwen Davies

Ryan Day

Michael Decter

Teri Degler

Gezahegn M. Demissie

Suzanne DePoe

Marcello Di Cintio

Jo Ann Dionne

Bronwyn Drainie

Naomi Duguid

Catherine Dunphy

Maggie Dwyer

Kim Echlin

Nadia Elmasri

Jacqueline and Peter Elton

Marina Endicott

Christopher Faiers

Jane Fairburn

Marsha Faubert

Thelma Fayle

Leonard Findlay

Robert Finley

Andrew Guy and Christine Fischer Guy

Cynthia Flood

Judy Fong Bates

Charles Foran

Lindsay Foran

Keath Fraser

Valerie French

George Galt

Marie-Louise Gay

Masha Gessen

Paola Gomez

Katherine Govier

Ron Graham

Melvyn Green

Chris Gudgeon

Beth Haddon

Judith Hall

Nancy Hansen

Dawn Harman

Merle Harris

Elizabeth Hay

Peter Hay

Kate Heartfield

Christopher Hedges

Dorris Heffron

Chara Ho

Judy Holm

Jennifer Holness

Lynn Horton

Jennifer Hosten

Ella Hough

Louisa Howerow

Linda Huestis

Isabel Huggan

Graeme Hunter

Kevin Irie

John Irving

Mohd Zainul Islam

Frances Itani

Spencer Izen

Nancy Jamieson

Bassam Jamil

Catherine Jeffery

Maureen Jennings

Tianyang Jiang

Elizabeth Johnston

Kath Jonathan

El Jones

Elizabeth Kaplan

Michael Kedar and Eva Seidner

Janet Keeping

Richard Keith

Margo Kelly

Michael Kennedy

David Kent

Elaine Kierans

Micah Killjoy

Camie Kim

Mark Kingwell

Julie-Ann Kirkpatrick

Caroline Kirouac

Heidi Klaassen

Kathy Koch

Brenda Koller

Sheila Koop

Myrna Kostash

David Koulack

Uma Krishnaswami

Diana Alice Kuprel

Andrey Kurkov

Tanya Kyi

Andrew Lafleche

Anita M. Lahey

Bethany Lake

Fiona Tinwei Lam

Nancy Lam

Vincent Hoa Chon Lam

Cindy Lapeña

Eric Lax

Sharlene Lazin

Jason Leaver

Alexander Leggatt

David Leggatt

Sylvia Legris

Ezra Levant

Michael Levine

Amanda Lewis

Gregory Light

Dahlia Liwsze

Damian Lopes

Gloria Lorenzen

John Lorinc

Lea Love

Ljerka Susanna Lukic

Christopher MacDonald

Wendy MacIntyre

Janet MacLean

Fareh Malik

Sara Mang

Nicole Mankinen

Diary Marif

Lorna Marsden

Émile Martel

Sandra Martin

Sid Marty

Michelle Mason

Abdulrahman Matar

Carol Matas

Bob McArthur

Richard McClelland

S.A.M. McCue

Hope McIntyre

Scott McIntyre

Neil McKinnon

Mundy McLaughlin

Stephanie McLellan

Susan McMaster

Samar Samir Mezghanni

Almeda Miller

Raffi Minas

Susan Minsos

Lawrence Mirkin

Michael Mirolla

Salah El Mohssein

Elise Moser

Ezat Mossallanejad

Cassandra Myers

Wren Mynhardt

Lotfullah Najafizada

Marie Natanson

John Neal

Peter O’Brien

Jane O’Hara

Sheila O’Reilly

Katrina Onstad

Deborah Ostrovsky

Margaret Ostrowski

Narendra Pachkhede

Frederick John Packer

Brian Panhuyzen

Jeungsoon Park

Kathleen Pattinson

Shauna Paull

Louise Penny

Susan Perly

Ezatolzaman Pezeshkzad

Francesca Piredda

Carolyn S. Poirier

Luka Poljak

Pamela Porter

Basia Puszkar

Dilan Qadir

Darlene Quaife

Monique Rabideau

Suman Rahman

Deepa Rajagopalan

Sharareh Rakhshan

Ceta Ramkhalawansingh

Philip Resnick

Pedro Restrepo

Kamel Riahi

Nino Ricci

CS Richardson

Dianne Rinehart

Diana Rivington

Siobhan Roberts

Diane Roblin

Brenda Roche

Ingrid Rose

Stuart Ross

Robert Rotenberg

Susan Ryan

Elizabeth Ryerson

Mary Rykov

Siavash Saadlou

Maria Sabaye Moghaddam

Dr. Farshid Sadatsharifi

Judie Sahadeo

AZM Sajedur Rahman

Kerri Sakamoto

Mahdi Saremifar

Candace Savage

Denise Schon

Anneliese Schultz

Shyam Selvadurai

Giorgia Severini

Peggy Shannon

Evelyn Sharpe

Sheena Shirani

Peter Showler

Haroon Siddiqui

Antanas Sileika

Merilyn Simonds

Marvin Singer

Caitlin Smith

Adam Sol

Catherine St. Denis

Hugh Stephens

Lori Sterling

Kate Story

Susan Stromberg-Stein

Rosemary Sullivan

Mark Surchin

Susan Greer and Robert Hough

George Swede

John Tackaberry

Barbara E. Tangney

Chris Tenove

Blossom Thom

Prof. Cheryl Thompson

Susan Thorne

Marian L Thorpe

Hung T. Ton

Ziya Tong

Caroline Topperman

Venus Torabi

Andrea Torrey Balsara

Laura Trachuk

Kim Trainor

Lawrence Uhlin

Rui Umezawa

Peter Unwin

Pablo Urbanyi

John Vaillant

Aritha van Herk

Mark Vessey

Eleanor Wachtel

Hazrat Wahriz

Jennifer Walcott

Bruce Walsh

David Waltner-Toews

Karen Walton

Janette Watt

Alison Wearing

Janice Weaver

Cheryl Wertman

Patricia Westerhof

Alan Whitehorn

Laurelyn Whitt

Janice Williamson

Patricia Windrim

Howard Wiseman

Carolyn Wood

Patrick Woodcock

Donna Wootton

Christine Wu

Max Wyman

Arzu Yildiz

Ahmad Yousefi

Chro Zand

Donors

Jeff Abraham

Kathleen Alboim

Annick Press Ltd.

Patricia Balfour

Douglas Barrett

Elinor Benjamin

Graham Bentley

Jane Berges

David Bloom

Ali Boreyri

Harvey Botting

Brenda Bowlby

Michael Brooks

C.M. Harding Foundation

Jamie Cameron

Alexandra Castillo-Smith

Wesley Choy

Rita Chudnovsky

June Cockwell

Sarah Colwell

Michael Cord

Cassandra Cronenberg

Patricia Crowe

Rob DeGoeij

Maureen Donnelly

Katie Elder

Susan Ellard

Thomas and Christine Evans

Olga Feiguina

Joyce Feinberg

Elizabeth Ferguson

Flavelle Family Foundation

David Foot

Josh Freed

Lenni Frohman

Dorothy Goldspink

John Grant

Karen Hainstock

Michael Hamilton

Debra Hanna

Kathryn Hayward

Ajay Heble

Gerri Holder

Alexandra Howell, Banff Centre

Denise Jacques

Theresa Johnson

Peter Kirby

Joseph Kirman

Stella Leventoyannis Harvey

Eva Ligeti

Mateusz Sklad and Lynn Tobin-Sklad

Beatrix Matheson

August Maurenbrecher

Janice McClelland

Fiona McHugh 

Patricia McKay

Ian McKercher

Norman McLeod

Michael Mehta

Alex Mesbur

George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation

Catherine Mitchell

David Murray

Vera Pantalone

Running the Goat, Books, and Broadsides

Naomi Pauls

Marian Pitters

Kiley Pole

Robin Roger

Elspeth Ross

Pierre Sarrazin

Saskatchewan Festival Of Words

Elizabeth Scott

Sheridan Scott

Eva Sharell

Suzannah Showler

Goldie and Sidney Silverman

David Simmons

Jason Skomorowski

Glenn Smith

Roman Solonysznyj

Stephanie Stavro

Evan Steingarten

Paul J Stoesser

Anne Swardbrick

Eilleen Tackaberry

Joyce Taylor

Janet Walter

Randy Witten

Dorothy Woodhouse

Wendy Wright

Marie-Anne Yang

Lori Yarrow

Board of Directors

Grace Westcott
President

Karen Walton
Vice President

Carolyn Poirier
Secretary and Treasurer

Anouchka Freybe
Chair, Events

Anna Porter
Chair, Fundraising and Membership

Peter Showler (until October 30, 2023)
Chair, Writers in Peril

Gezahegn M. Demissie
Chair, Writers in Exile

Karen Walton
Chair, Communications

Lori Sterling
Chair, Canadian and Legal Affairs

El Jones
Co-chair, Eastern Canada Outreach

Bruce Walsh
Co-chair, Eastern Canada Outreach

Marcello Di Cintio
Chair, Western Canada Outreach

Members at Large

Peter Donolo

Elaine Kierans

Kathy Koch

Scott McIntyre

Jean Teillet

Ziya Tong

Past Presidents

Richard Stursberg

Randy Boyagoda

Philip Slayton

Charlie Foran

Ellen Seligman

Nelofer Pazira

Constance Rooke

Haroon Siddiqui

Reza Baraheni

Sandra Martin

Ann Ireland

Katherine Govier

Ron Graham

Nino Ricci

Marian Botsford Fraser

Alison Gordon

Louise Dennys

John Ralston Saul

June Callwood

Graeme Gibson

Timothy Findley

Margaret Atwood

Advisory Council

Richard Stursberg

Randy Boyagoda

Neil Bissoondath

Kristin Cochrane

Valerie Connor

Douglas Coupland

David Cronenberg

Ronald Deibert

Esi Edugyan

Omar El Akkad

Charlie Foran

Kevin Hanson

Mark Kingwell

Elana Rabinovitch

Devyani Saltzmann

Philip Slayton

Tanya Talaga

Michael Wernick

Ken Whyte

Staff
Brendan de Caires
Executive Director

Theresa Johnson
Office Manager

Eilish Waller
Communications Coordinator

Volunteers

Anneli Andre-Barrett

Mira Boyagoda

Kim Echlin

Marian Botsford Fraser

Paola Gomez

Maureen Brosnahan

Önder Deligoz

Gezahegn M. Demissie

Hannah Fisher

Margo Kelly

Keith Leckie

Mary Jo Leddy

Joan Leishman

Caroline Newton

Maria Sabaye

Alyssa Sammut

Amir Yazdanbod

Speakers

Margaret Atwood

Ashley Audrain

Nahlah Ayed

Gezahegn M. Demissie

Louise Dennys

Ahmet Dogan

Alexander Duarte

Bushra Elfadil

Masha Gessen

Jackleen Hanna

Jennifer Holness

Jennifer Hosten

John Irving

Andrey Kurkov

Vincent Lam

Keith Leckie

Kyo Maclear

Fareh Malik

Abdulrahman Matar

Deepa Mehta 

Luis Horacio Nájera 

Kiran Nazish

Carol Off

Anna Porter

Dilan Qadir

Pedro Restrepo

Kamal Riahi

Devyani Saltzman

Bilal Sarwary 

John Ralston Saul

Johanna Schneller

Sanaa Seif 

Dr. Cheryl Thompson

Max Wyman

In Memoriam

Norman Jewison (1926 – 2024)

Émile Martel (1941 – 2023)

Peter Showler (1944 – 2023)

Daniel Stoffman (1945 –  2023)

2023 Annual Award Winners

Alaa Abd el-Fattah, One Humanity Award

Joan Leishman, Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize

Brandi Morin, Ken Filkow Prize

Christine Wu, RBC New Voices Award

2023 Scholarships
Dilan Qadir, Humber College Writers-in-Exile Scholarship

Special thanks

Action Potential Lab

Jess Atwood Gibson

Anneli Andre-Barrett

Siena Anstis

Gary Beelik

Benefaction

Benevity Community Impact Fund

Dmitry Beniaminov

David Bezmozgis

Jack Blum

Michael Bookman

Mira Boyagoda

Randy Boyagoda

Amber Bracken

Alex Briganti

Stanford Calimag

Jamie Cameron

Canada Helps

Canadian Online Giving Foundation

Richard Franklin Carter

CHIMP: Charitable Impact Foundation

Claudia Casper

Dieu Cay

Irwin Cotler

Jim Creskey

Twinkle Dahwan

Michael Decter

Gezahegn M. Demissie

Suzanne DePoe

Marcello Di Cintio

Peter Donolo

Kim Echlin

Omar El Akkad

Shams Erfan

Jeremy Finkelstein

Hannah Fisher

Charlie Foran

Anouchka Freybe

George Brown College

Anne Giardini

Don Gillmor

Anjula Gogia

Daniel Gorman

Katherine Govier

John Healy

Hirut Ethiopian Jazz Club

Ange Holmes

Hogg, Shain & Scheck Professional Corporation

Stella Isaac

Jennita Jadunauth

Lidiia Karpenko

Margo Kelly

Jónína Kirton

Joshua Knelman

Chelene Knight

Paul Kunoni

Diana Kuprel

Larissa Lai

Jennifer Lanthier

Sharlene Lazin

Keith Leckie

Mary Jo Leddy

Joan Leishman

Keith Lem

Literary Review of Canada

Alexander MacLeod

Diary Marif

Serina Mercier

Elise Moser

Mother Mushroom

Omar Mouallem

Grace Munene

Luis Horacio Nájera

Kiran Nazish

Pear Interactive

Charlie Pachter

PayPal Charitable Giving Fund

Tien Providence

Deepa Rajagopalan

John Ralston Saul

Danny Ramadan

Jim Ryce

Mary Rykov

Maria Sabaye

Mathew Sandford

Julian Sher

Peter Showler

Philip Slayton

Soapbox Design

Robin Stevenson

Judy Stoffman

Richard Stursberg

Jean Teillet

Chris Tenove

Toronto Foundation

​​Salil Tripathi

Jim Turk

Sheng Xue

And all those who have contributed their thoughts and time.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this list. If your name is misspelled or excluded, please contact Theresa Johnson at 416-703-8448 ext 2221 or through email at queries@pencanada.ca so we can correct the error.

If your name isn’t on this list, please consider joining us! PEN Canada needs stable charitable support to sustain our vital work. You can call us at 416-703-8448 ext 2221 or visit pencanada.ca/donate to donate today.