Hugh Garner (1913-1979) was a Canadian novelist.

Born in England, Garner came to Canada in 1919 with his parents, and was raised in Toronto, Ontario. During the Great Depression, he rode the rails in both Canada and the United States, and then joined the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. During World War II he served in the Canadian navy.

Following the war, Garner concentrated on his writing. He published his first novel, Storm Below, in 1949.

Garner's most famous novel, Cabbagetown, depicted life in the Toronto neighbourhood of Cabbagetown, then Canada's most famous slum, during the Depression. It was published in abridged form in 1950, and in an expanded edition in 1968. The Intruders, a sequel depicting the gentrification of the neighbourhood, was published in 1976.

Later in his career, Garner concentrated on mystery novels, including Death in Don Mills and Murder Has Your Number.

Garner struggled much of his life with alcoholism, and died in 1979 of alcohol-related illness. A housing cooperative in Cabbagetown is named in his memory.

Bibliography

• Storm Below (1949)
• Cabbagetown (1950, abridged)
• The Yellow Sweater (1952, short stories)
• Silence on the Shore (1962)
• Hugh Garner's Best Stories (1963, short stories)
• Men and Women (1966, short stories)
• Cabbagetown (1968, full edition)
• The Sin Sniper (1970)
• Violation of the Virgins (1971, short stories)
• One Damn Thing After Another (1973, memoir)
• Death in Don Mills (1975)
• The Intruders (1976)
• Murder Has Your Number (1978)
• Don't Deal Five Deuces (1992)