our selection of Quebec literature

Quebec, populated by 8.5 million inhabitants – a large majority of French speakers, English speakers and 11 indigenous nations – is teeming with an infinite variety of feathers! The prizes received in the fall by two young authors, Kevin Lambert For May our joy remain (Ed. Le Nouvel Attila), winner of the December and Medici prizes, and Eric Chacour For What I know about you (Ed. Philippe Rey), Femina of high school students, amplify the movement of curiosity towards the literature of American cousins. They surprise with their talent as stylists and their range of subjects: scathing comedy among Montreal's big money, a mixed-race filial anthem, a noir novel in Gaspésie, the battered and resilient itineraries of indigenous peoples, confident and caring feminist voices… Forty authors will be present at the Book Festival in Paris. We present to you around fifteen nuggets.

The sap of life

A masterpiece of delicacy and emotion, The wren of Jean-François Beauchemin, which is currently coming out in Folio, narrates the narrator's companionship with his schizophrenic brother. The novelist combines love of nature and beings, contemplation and poetry. A jewel. Like his last work, The light wind (Ed. Quebec America), where a large family is affected by the mother's cancer but retains a very Christ-like light (even if the author defines himself as a fervent atheist). For her part, the poet Hélène Dorion, In My forests (Ed. Bruno Doucey), makes the song of the trees heard: “My forests are long trails of time (…) / they slide into the blue hour / a vivid ray of memories / the humus of each life where rests /light/a wing. “. Michel Rabagliati, as for him, in a comic strip or graphic novel, traces the itineraries of Paul, his hero, with skin-deep tenderness and fascinating creativity. Multi-awarded, he publishes today Rose on the island (Ed. La Pastèque), first father-daughter vacation (Paul and Rose) on an island in the St. Lawrence River (not to be missed either Paul fishing And Paul in the countryside).

Local black

Alain Beaulieu wins the France Québec 2023 prize, awarded at the Festival, for The shelter (Ed. Liana Levi), the story of a loving retired academic couple drawn into a spiral of regrettable actions and remorse. A gripping novel about love and sin. In the dark, don't miss Roxanne Bouchard, second Quebecer to win the Quai du polar prize in 2023 (after Andrée A. Michaud in 2017 with Buzzard ) For We were the salt of the sea (Éd. de l'Aube), maritime thriller in Gaspésie. The author also presents her new opus, The Coral Bride (Ed. de l'Aube), on the disappearance of a lobster boat captain. Black burlesque side, the youngest ofAndré Marois, holy peace (Ed. Héliotrope) tells the story of two old ladies who face each other on each side of the Mastigouche River. One of them, very shaken when her neighbor tells her she is leaving, will find a way to keep her back.

Women's words

“ At the Frankfurt Messe I was the only woman on the board of directors, it's crazy. This no longer exists in Quebec! » exclaims Caroline Fortin, director of Éditions QuébecAmérique. “My colleagues asked me if I had stayed. Yes. But hey… it wasn’t fun! “. On the other side of the Atlantic, mentalities are twenty years ahead and the numerous authors are paving unique and fascinating furrows. Very popular, Martine Delvaux carries a strong and loving feminist voice, on TV and on the airwaves. In The world is yours (Ed. Les Avrils), she questions her relationship with her daughter, questioning its educational function. Dominique Fortier, she focused on Emily Dickinson through two captivating novels, with careful classicism: Paper towns (Ed. Grasset) tells, between fiction and reality, the life of the American poet, and The white shadows (Ed. Grasset), the incredible adventure that led Emily Dickinson's sister to publish the poems that the author wanted to burn.

Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette, for its part, launches into Forest woman (Ed. Lattès) a call to run through the undergrowth singing. “Algonquin friends have already explained to me what attitude to adopt if I encountered a bear in the forest. (…) Above all, don’t play dead. I'm not credible as a dead person. But rather walk away slowly, without sudden movements, while talking to the bear (I'm still looking for what to say to him. If I haven't found it by then, I'll sing). »

Indigenous voices

We met Michael Jean this fall for the release of his fabulous Tiohtià:ke (Montreal) (Ed. Seuil) on these itineraries of young indigenous people in big cities. The author will be present at the Festival and will also dedicate his Kukum (Ed. Points), the beautiful story of a Quebec orphan in love with a young Innu with whom she shares her nomadic life on Pekuakami (Lake Saint-Jean). For her part, the poet Rita Mestokosho offers, in Native American language and French, Atiku utei. The heart of the caribou (Ed. Mémoire d’encrier): “ Nutin nitaimiku tshietshi maimuk shipua /the wind calls me to descend the great rivers/ ka mateni-takuanniti tshimushuminanat utinniu-nuaua /the freedom of the ancestors vibrates. »

From elsewhere

There are many Quebecers from diverse backgrounds! Starting with the academician Dany Laferrière, born in Haiti, who publishes A certain art of living (Ed. Grasset). A collection of short, hilarious texts. Read also : What I know about you , by Eric Chacour. Born in Egypt, the young author offers a delicate first novel: the life of Tarek, a renowned doctor from the popular neighborhoods of Cairo, married but in love with a young man, to whom he transmits his love of care. Well known in Quebec, Kim Thuy, she fled Vietnam. She writes poignant works, such as Ru (Ed. Lattès), inspired by his journey.