Charlie Foran was born and raised in Toronto. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the University College, Dublin, and has taught in China, Hong Kong, and Canada.
He has published twelve books, including five novels. His fiction, non-fiction, and journalism have all won awards.
Charlie has also written and presented radio and TV documentaries. A past president of PEN Canada, he is a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, adjunct faculty in the graduate faculty, Department of English, U of T, and a member of the Order of Canada.
Charlie Foran was CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) from 2015-2018 and Executive Director of Writers’ Trust of Canada from 2020-2023. He lives outside Toronto.
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In 2018, Charlie was awarded the Writers’ Trust Fellowship. The juy citation read:
“The range, depth, and beauty of Charles Foran’s work is an astounding feat. Few authors in Canada or the world write as eloquently or expertly about literary lions and hockey legends; about the Irish Troubles and post-Tiananmen Square China; about lives caught in the public gaze of history or in their most intimate encounters. In a body of work that spans the tail end of one century and the beginning of another, he’s proven just as adventurous in his choices of genre — moving in and out of fiction, literary nonfiction, journalism, biography, criticism, and advocacy for freedom of speech and diverse societies. The Writers’ Trust salutes and welcomes to its fellowship an indispensable voice in Canadian literature, a masterful storyteller who has helped us understand ourselves and the world around us one book, one essay, one campaign, at a time.”
A video was made:
Charles Foran 