Madeleine Gagnon

As Always: Memoir of a Life in Writing Madeleine Gagnon

Marc Notes: Translation of: Depuis toujours.; Issued also in electronic format. Biographical Note: Madeleine Gagnon has made a mark on Quebec literature as a poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer. Born in Amqui, a little village in the Matapedia Valley, she decided at the age of twelve to be a writer, and after her early education with the Ursuline nuns, went on to study literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis at the Universite de Montreal, the Sorbonne, and the Universite d Aix-en-Provence, where she received her doctorate. Since 1969, she has published more than thirty books while at the same time teaching literature at several Quebec universities. Her work in all genres combines passion, lucidity, erudition, poetic vision, and political commitment, boldly transgressing the boundaries between poetry and prose. Among her many awards are the prestigious Athanase-David Prize (2002) for her lifetime body of work, the Governor General s Award for Poetry (1990) for "Chant pour un Quebec lointain" (translated by Howard Scott as "Song for a Far Quebec"), and the Journal de Montreal Prize (1986) for "Les Fleurs du catalpa." Her work has also won international recognition, with many publications in France and some fifteen translations into English, Spanish, and Italian. Nancy Huston has described Madeleine Gagnon as someone in whom the boundary between inner and outer life is porous; her words are poetry and her ear for the words of others is poetry too. Everything she takes in from the world is filtered, processed, transformed by the insistent rhythms of the songs within her. Madeleine Gagnon Awards and Distinctions20072009 - Career Award of the Council of Arts and Letters of Quebec 2008 - Ronald-Gasparic International Poetry Prize, Romania2002 - Athanase-David Prize for a lifetime of work2001 - Marcel-Couture Prize at Salon du livre (Montreal) for "Les femmes et la guerre"1991 - Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry for "Chant pour un Quebec lointain"1991 - Artquimedia Prize1990 - Arthur-Buies Prize at Salon du livre (Rimouski) for a lifetime of work1986 - Journal de Montreal literary prize for "Les fleurs du Catalpa" Phyllis Aronoff lives in Montreal. She holds a master s degree in English literature. "The Wanderer," her translation of "La Quebecoite" by Regine Robin, won the 1998 Jewish Book Award for fiction. She and Howard Scott were awarded the 2001 Quebec Writers Federation Translation Award for "The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701." She is a past president of the Literary Translators Association of Canada. Howard Scott is a Montreal literary translator who specializes in the genres of fiction and non-fiction. He is a past president of the Literary Translators Association of Canada. His literary translations include works by Madeleine Gagnon and Quebec science-fiction writer Elisabeth Vonarburg. In 1997, Scott received the prestigious Governor General s Translation Award for his work on Louky Bersianik s "The Euguelion." In 1999, his translation of The Eighth Register, a science-fiction story by Alain Bergeron, won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History for best short-form."Publisher Marketing: One of Canada s greatest literary figures reflects on life at the centre of Quebec literary arts. Re-examining the influences of her early life in a large, rural Catholic family, Madeleine Gagnon not only explores her rejection of unexamined values as part of her intellectual development but also her refusal to be categorized by her gender. Karl Marx replaced Paul Claudel in Gagnon s intellectual pantheon. Psychoanalysis gave rise to the desire to write, and her first works poured out in a torrent. She describes the friendships that played such a large part in her life and the feminist battles of the time with all their hopes and disappointments. At the same time she casts a sharp eye on contemporary Quebec society, tracing the emergence of a distinct Canadian literature. This is an account of a life well lived, told with candour, wisdom, and an inextinguishable sense of wonder."

Contributor Bio:  Gagnon, Madeleine Madeleine Gagnon has made a mark on Quebec literature as a poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer. Born in the village of Amqui, she studied literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis at the Universite de Montreal, the Sorbonne, and the Universite d'Aixen-Provence. She has published some thirty books while at the same time teaching literature in several Quebec universities. Her writing in all genres combines passion, lucidity, erudition, poetic vision, and political commitment, boldly transgressing the boundaries between poetry and prose. She has received numerous prizes for her work, among them the Journal de Montreal prize (1986) for Les Fleurs du Catalpa, the Arthur Buies Prize (1990), the Prix Artquimedia (1991) from the Rimouski Book Exhibition for her body of work, the Governor General's Award (1991) for Song for a Far Quebec and the prestigious Athanase David prize (2002) for her lifetime body of work. She is internationally recognized with some fifteen translations into English, Spanish, and Italian of her work in print. Contributor Bio:  Aronoff, Phyllis Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott live and translate in Montreal, Quebec. Howard Scott received the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award for his translation of The Euguelion. Contributor Bio:  Scott, Howard Howard Scott lives and translates in Montreal, Quebec. He received the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award for his translation of The Euguelion.