Josephine Phelan (1905–1979), Canadian writer and librarian, won the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction in 1951 for The Ardent Exile, a biography of Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

Born in Hamilton, Phelan was educated in Guelph and at the University of Toronto where she earned a Master of History.^[1] After attending the Ontario College of Education,^[2] Phelan taught high school before moving to Montreal to work in publishing. In 1931, she returned to the University of Toronto and earned a degree in library science in 1931 and worked at the Toronto Public Library from 1932 to 1965.^[2]

Works

• The Ardent Exile: The Life and Times of Thos. Darcy McGee (1951)
• The Boy Who Ran Away: Great Stories of Canada (1954)
• The Bold Heart: The Story of Father Lacombe (1956)
• The Ballad of D'Arcy McGee: Rebel in Exile (1967)