# Herman Voaden > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herman_Voaden > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herman_Voaden.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Voaden > Source revision: 1219068908 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Canadian playwright (1903–1991)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}} {{Infobox writer | name = Herman Arthur Voaden | image = | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|01|19}} | birth_place = [London](/source/London%2C_Ontario), [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada | death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|06|27|1903|01|19}} | death_place = [Toronto](/source/Toronto), Ontario, Canada | resting_place = | occupation = | language = | nationality = | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = [Playwright](/source/Playwright) | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = [Order of Canada](/source/Order_of_Canada) | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''Herman Arthur Voaden''', {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM}} {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRSA}} (19 January 1903 – 27 June 1991){{sfn|Wagner|2013}} was a [Canadian](/source/Canadians) [playwright](/source/playwright).{{sfn|Wagner|2004}} ==Life and work== Born in [London, Ontario](/source/London%2C_Ontario),{{sfn|Wagner|2013}} he received a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) (Honours) degree in 1923 and a [Master of Arts](/source/Master_of_Arts) degree in 1926 from [Queen's University](/source/Queen's_University_at_Kingston).{{sfn|Wagner|2021}} He also studied at the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago) and at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University). His father, Dr. Arthur Voaden, pioneered vocational teaching in [Ontario](/source/Ontario). His mother, Luisa Bale Voaden, was also a teacher. Voaden studied modern drama at [Queen's University](/source/Queen's_University_at_Kingston), 1920–1923, and wrote his 1926 Queen’s M.A. thesis on [Eugene O’Neill](/source/Eugene_O%E2%80%99Neill).{{sfn|York University|2011}} In 1928 Voaden became head of the English department at the Central High School of Commerce (now the [Central Toronto Academy](/source/Central_Toronto_Academy)),{{sfn|Wagner|2021}} 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.'"{{sfn|Voaden|1960|p=ix}} A member of the [Co-operative Commonwealth Federation](/source/Co-operative_Commonwealth_Federation),{{sfn|York University|2011}} he ran for the [House of Commons of Canada](/source/House_of_Commons_of_Canada) in the western Toronto riding of [Trinity](/source/Trinity_(electoral_district)) in the [1945 elections](/source/1945_Canadian_federal_election), [1949 elections](/source/1949_Canadian_federal_election), [1953 elections](/source/1953_Canadian_federal_election), and a 1954 [by-election](/source/by-election). He lost each time. Voaden was a member of Toronto's [Arts and Letters Club](/source/Arts_and_Letters_Club), the [Dominion Drama Festival](/source/Dominion_Drama_Festival), and a founding member and first president of the Canadian Arts Council (which became the [Canadian Conference of the Arts](/source/Canadian_Conference_of_the_Arts) in 1958).{{sfn|Wagner|2013}} As president of the CAC, he was one of several Canadian representatives to the first [UNESCO](/source/UNESCO) conference, held in Paris in 1946. ==Honours== In 1974, he was made a Member of the [Order of Canada](/source/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".{{OCC|1726}} He was made a Fellow in the [Royal Society of Arts](/source/Royal_Society_of_Arts) in 1970. Following his death, [Queen's University](/source/Queen's_University_at_Kingston) created the [Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition](/source/Herman_Voaden_Playwriting_Competition) to honour new works by emerging playwrights.{{sfn|Burliuk|1997}} ==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](/source/Frederick_Jacobi)) (debuted 1945) * ''[Emily Carr](/source/Emily_Carr): A Stage Biography with Pictures'' (first performed 1960){{sfn|Wagner|2020}} ==Notes== {{ reflist }} ==References== {{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{cite news |last=Burliuk |first=Greg |title=Workshops focus on two winning plays |work=[Kingston Whig-Standard](/source/Kingston_Whig-Standard) |date=1997-08-16 |page=30 |id={{ProQuest|353109238}} }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Voaden |editor-first=Herman |title=Four Plays of Our Time |publisher=Macmillan of Canada |year=1960 |location=Toronto}} * {{cite encyclopedia |title=Herman Arthur Voaden |first=Anton |last=Wagner |date=2013-12-16 |encyclopedia=[The Canadian Encyclopedia](/source/The_Canadian_Encyclopedia) |publisher=[Historica Canada](/source/Historica_Canada) |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/herman-arthur-voaden |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240206025243/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/herman-arthur-voaden |archive-date=2024-02-06}} * {{cite encyclopedia |title=Herman Voaden |first=Anton |last=Wagner |date=2004-02-04 |encyclopedia=[The Literary Encyclopedia](/source/The_Literary_Encyclopedia) |url=https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4559 }} * {{cite encyclopedia |title=Emily Carr: A Stage Biography with Pictures |last=Wagner |first=Anton |url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Emily%20Carr%3A%20A%20Stage%20Biography%20With%20Pictures |date=2020-08-24 |access-date=2024-04-12 |encyclopedia=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia}} * {{cite encyclopedia |title=Voaden, Herman |last=Wagner |first=Anton |url=https://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Herman%20Voaden |date=2021-06-11 |access-date=2024-04-12 |encyclopedia=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia}} * {{cite web |author=York University |url=https://www.library.yorku.ca/binaries/ArchivesSpecialCollections/Voaden/website/hvindex.html |title=Herman Arthur Voaden fonds |work=[York University](/source/York_University) |access-date=2024-04-13 |date=16 December 2011}} {{refend}} ==External links== {{ archival records|qid=Q5740308 }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Voaden, Herman}} Category:1903 births Category:1991 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from London, Ontario Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni Category:Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Canadian male writers Category:Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidates for the Canadian House of Commons --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Herman Voaden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Voaden) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Voaden?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.