Hugh Garner (1913-1979) immigrated to Canada with his parents from Yorkshire, England, in 1919, settling in Toronto. In the 1930s he fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades. His most famous novel is Cabbagetown, which he published in 1950 in an abridged version, later released in its entirety in 1968. In 1963 he won the Governor General's Award for Hugh Garner's Best Stories.
Paul Stuewe is the author of The Storms Below: The Turbulent Life and Times of Hugh Garner, which was shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award in 1988, and Hugh Garner and His Works (1986). Currently, he is an associate professor of English at Green Mountain College in Vermont.