Don Hannah

1951-

Don Hannah (playwright, poet, and novelist) was born in Moncton, New Brunswick in June 1951 and raised in Shediac, New Brunswick. He began school at Shediac Central, then went to King George School in Moncton and graduated from Moncton High School in 1969. He then attended Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB where he studied both English and fine arts. After completing his degree, he pursued graduate studies at York University in Toronto, ON. He now calls both Toronto and the South Shore of Nova Scotia home. In the 1970s, he had his first poems published. His first play was Rubber Dolly (1986), and his first production was Wedding Script (1986). In 1999, he released Shoreline: Three Plays, which included Father and Sons, Running Far Back, and Rubber Dolly. Hannah has published two novels: The Wise and Foolish Virgins (1998) and Ragged Islands (2007). The first play he produced, Wedding Script (1986), was granted the Chalmers Award for Creativity and Excellence in the Arts. The Wooden Hill (1994) was the first Canadian play to win an AT&T Onstage Award. Hannah has been writer-in-residence for the Canadian Stage Company, the University of New Brunswick, and the Yukon Public Library Service. He was the inaugural Lee Playwright in Residence at the University of Alberta, where he wrote While We're Young in 2008. Hannah has also been writer-in-residence at the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. While at the Tarragon Theatre, Hannah spent five years as the director of the Tarragon Youth Playwrights Unit. He has also been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Hannah has worked for the Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre (PARC), which works to promote and develop Atlantic Canadian drama. It was at the PARC where Hannah began writin, There is a Land of Pure Delight. He has also previously worked as a professor at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal.  In 2008 Hannah was a faculty member of the Banff PlayRites Colony.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Moncton