On Monic Néron’s bedside table

Twice a month, a public figure tells us what they are reading at the moment. This week: journalist Monic Néron, who hosts the radio show The human raceon ICI Première, and which also collaborates on In the media, on Télé-Québec, and There will always be cultureon ICI Première.

QimmikMichel Jean

“ I couldn’t wait to find Michel Jean’s pen again because I have read everything he has written so far. Each time, there is something that moves me, that moves me. He has a gift for writing words from the heart. He always makes us discover parts of the history of indigenous peoples that we know less about because they were not taught to us or because they were hidden from us. We access with great humility the pain of the trials of our ancestors. And that, for me, always generates awareness. This is also truth and reconciliation, taking the time to delve into stories that are inspired by real events that indigenous peoples have suffered. »

Qimmik

Michael Jean

Free expression

224 pages

The version that interests no oneEmmanuelle Pierrot

“ I went to the Yukon and Dawson City at 14 to learn English. The description of the small village is so accurate that I felt like I was walking the streets again. What blew me away for a first novel and what I found exceptional was the rhythm and casualness of the writing. I liked that it was raw and unfiltered, I liked this foray into the punk lifestyle; it reminded me sometimes The Goddess of Fire Fliesby Geneviève Pettersen, whom I adored. […] I am still so attached to Sacha’s character that I want to cry with her out of anger and injustice; and this is what she succeeds in translating. It’s rare that it hits me like that. »

The version that interests no one

Emmanuelle Pierrot

The Quartier

320 pages

Hotline, Dimitri Nasrallah

“ We are with a woman who is separated from her husband, missing against the backdrop of the civil war in Lebanon. She immigrates to Canada with her son and that’s where it becomes the journey of a mother who leaves everything behind. […] What struck me were the parallels that we can draw with the reality of newcomers, the resilience of this mother, her devotion to her child. It should be made compulsory reading in the school curriculum. […] I would put this book next to Where I hideby Caroline Dawson, and What I know about you, by Eric Chacour. It’s a story of uprooting and rootedness that gave me back faith in humanity. »

Hotline

Dimitri Nasrallah (translated from English by Daniel Grenier)

The People

376 pages