Essayist and novelist, John Ralston Saul proposes a new humanism through what he calls responsible individualism. His 14 works have been translated into 29 languages in 38 countries. Saul’s philosophical trilogy and its conclusion —Voltaire’s Bastards, The Doubter’s Companion, The Unconscious Civilization and On Equilibrium: Six Qualities of the New Humanism—has impacted political thought in many countries.

In A Fair Country: Telling Truths about Canada, he argues that modern Canada is profoundly shaped by Aboriginal ideas. He is general editor of the Extraordinary Canadians biographical series and contributed his own biography of Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine & Robert Baldwin. In 2012, he published his first novel in 15 years, Dark Diversions: A Traveller’s Tale. The Comeback, his latest release, explores how Indigenous peoples are empowering themselves for a grand return to a position of power and influence.

Saul is President Emeritus of PEN International, and Founder and Honorary Chair of French for the Future. Saul is a Companion in the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario and a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. His many literary awards include Chile’s Pablo Neruda Medal, the Governor General’s Award, and the inaugural Gutenberg Galaxy Award.