Literary festival in Estrie
The Théâtre de Lac-Brome, in Knowlton, will host the Lac-Brome literary festival for the second year, from May 17 to 21. Dominique Fortier, who has just been appointed a member of the Literary Council of the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation, is the spokesperson for the event and will take part in a reading of her novel paper towns, in the company of poet and actor Christian Vézina and pianist Yves Léveillé. Illustrator Isabelle Arsenault will lead a workshop for 9 to 12 year olds around her book The honey bee, while a literary show inspired by a text by Robert Lalonde will be an opportunity to revisit episodes in the life of Virginia Woolf. A presentation of the film by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette white dog is also on the program.
Daniel Pennac at the Gallimard bookstore
PHOTO FRANCESCA MANTOVANI, PROVIDED BY GALLIMARD
Daniel Pennac
French writer Daniel Pennac will be in Montreal on May 16 for an intimate encounter on the Malaussène family saga, the last chapter of which he closed over the winter with Malaussene Terminus. He will talk with writer and journalist Marie-Andrée Lamontagne about this series, which began in 1985 and has since been translated around the world. At the Gallimard bookstore (boulevard Saint-Laurent), at 5:30 p.m.
New things to discover
Among all the publications arriving in bookstores these days, here are a few that caught our attention.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE EDITOR
This title by Mordecai Richler is a must in the work of the Montreal novelist, which has been retranslated for several years by Lori Saint-Martin and Paul Gagné and republished by Éditions du Boréal. Last of his books, The little guide to snooker pays tribute to the sport that marked his life. (Boreal, 216 pages)
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On Netflix, Queen Charlotte is a series derived from The Bridgerton Chronicle ; but now there is the novel, which tells the love story between the future queen of the United Kingdom and George III, whom she is about to marry. For fans of historical novels and the British monarchy. (Flammarion Quebec, 384 pages)
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From doe to bad bitch is the result of a collaboration between author Marie Gray (what woman wants, Be beautiful and stop talking) and former police officer Sylvain St-Amour. A real prevention tool, it notably presents solutions and advice for reacting without freezing to harassment and attacks. (St. John, 180 pages)
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE EDITOR
Do well and be happy brings together the most striking – and most scathing – observations of actor Stéphane Crête over the past 25 years, on different platforms. With a foreword by Olivier Choinière and an afterword by Fernando Arrabal. (All in all, 328 pages)
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The author and journalist Pascale Wilhelmy is publishing her new novel these days post it, in which she explores the universe of two children abandoned to themselves and forced to grow up much too quickly. (Free Expression, 200 pages)
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The author of Obsolete happiness Élyse A. Héroux returns to fiction with Four scattered clementines, a fable tinged with humor about the passage of time, told in four voices. (Edito, 336 pages)
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The return of National Book Fight
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Marie Louise Arsenault
The ring bell of the National Book Fight will ring for four consecutive evenings on ICI Première starting Monday, May 15, at 8 p.m. Five lovers of literature from different regions of the country will defend their literary favorites during this sixth edition hosted, once again, by Marie-Louise Arsenault. The works that will compete this year are: Nanabush’s Kiss by Drew Hayden Taylor, Rivers-aux-Cartridgesby Sébastien Bérubé, We were the salt of the seaby Roxanne Bouchard, The Sudbury Arsonistby Chloé LaDuchesse, and The raft, by Jean-Pierre Dubé. Young readers will not be left out as they will be entitled to their own fight on Friday, May 19.
Local authors rewarded
PHOTO HAMED ALEALI, PROVIDED BY METROPOLIS BLEU
Baharan Baniahmadi
Last weekend, the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival honored Iranian-born Quebecer Baharan Baniahmadi with the Blue Metropolis/Conseil des arts de Montréal New Contribution Prize for her first novel. Prophetess (published in English by Vehicle Press). “A moving, ambitious and subtle novel”, according to the members of the jury (which included the novelist Ghayas Hachem). Among the finalists were also Mali Navia, for her novel The banality of a shot (Leméac), and Eli Tarek El Bechelany-Lynch, for The Good Arabs (MetonymyPress). This prize, which is in its eighth year of existence, rewards new literary voices from immigration and of which Montreal is the home base (Nicholas Dawson had notably received it in 2021).
On the other side of the Atlantic, Quebec novelist Nicolas Delisle-L’Heureux received the Marie Claire novel prize for A great sound of disasterFrench version (republished by Éditions Les Avrils) of female dog children, published by us in 2022 by Éditions du Boréal. This prize awarded by the French magazine aims to reward a French-speaking novel that evokes a woman’s destiny.
A new prize for trials
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Melikah Abdelmoumen
Quebec letters announced the creation of a new prize that will reward an essay written by authors established in the country and published by a Canadian publishing house. The LQ Essay Prize will be endowed with a cash prize of $1000. Mélikah Abdelmoumen, Félix Morin and Jérémie McEwen are part of the jury for this first edition. The three finalists will be announced next August at the Correspondances d’Eastman, where they will be invited to present their work.
Award-winning cartoonists
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION ARCHIVES
Geneviève Bigué won a Bédéis Causa prize for her comic strip Sometimes the lakes burn.
Seven cartoonists and a collective were rewarded at the Bédéis Causa awards ceremony, held in Quebec City in mid-April. The works chosen by the jury for this 36e edition are A jellyfishfrom Boom, The little brotherby Jean-Louis Tripp, Sometimes the lakes burnby Genevieve Bigue, Félixe and the house that walked at nightby Sophie Bedard, The unfinished mazeby Jeff Lemire, and loose leaves, by Alexandre Clérisse. A tribute award was presented to Daniel Shelton, creator of the series Well, which is distributed in many newspapers in North America and Asia. Imagined by the KrRoLe collective, Donkey Shota project dedicated to self-publishing which will combine literature and video games in a comic strip, was also awarded a prize.
Élise Gravel draws for the MoMA
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION ARCHIVES
Elise Gravel
Author and children’s book illustrator Élise Gravel was asked to create a comic strip for the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). There she discusses her drawing workshops with children who have just arrived in Quebec and who are just beginning to learn French. “In a few weeks, they will speak French better than most Canadians,” she concludes with humor. She also posted a French version of the comic on her Facebook page.