Caroline Dawson conquered Quebec with her first novel, Where I hide, but also with his luminous smile, his righteous indignation, his generosity and his great transparency. The National Assembly recognized this legacy on June 4, when the 106 deputies present stood and observed a minute of silence in his memory.
In the presence of the family of the writer and sociologist, who died on May 19 after a long battle with cancer, elected officials adopted a motion highlighting “her brilliant contribution to Quebec literature and society”, as well as her “ unwavering commitment to social justice and its capacity to forge deep and meaningful human connections.”
The MPs wished to offer their “sincere condolences” to the family, friends and colleagues of Caroline Dawson, “in particular to her children, for whom she was a devoted and loving mother”. Prime Minister François Legault was absent, having decided to leave the Assembly a few minutes before the adoption of the motion.
The author – described by the solidarity MP for Laurier-Dorion, Andrés Fontecilla, as “a shooting star having crossed the sky of Quebec” – announced in August 2021 that she was suffering from an aggressive tumor – a 25 cm osteosarcoma – which No treatment has succeeded in eradicating it.
Born in Chile in 1979, then immigrating to Quebec with her family at the age of seven, Caroline Dawson became known with the publication of her first novel, Where I hide (Éditions du stir-ménage), in 2020. This story, which draws largely on her own journey as a refugee, tells the story of a little girl who flees the Pinochet dictatorship for Canada. With this important book, she “was able to capture the complex and often painful realities of immigration, offering a powerful and authentic voice to immigrants and refugees in Quebec,” specifies the text adopted by the National Assembly.
Winner of the Literary Prize for college students, finalist, among others, for the Prix des libraires du Québec and the National book fight from Radio-Canada, this first novel sat at the top of the booksellers’ sales charts for nearly three years, selling tens of thousands of copies – a feat in Quebec.
In February 2023, Caroline Dawson published What are you (Triptych), a first collection of poetry which tells the story of everything that the writer “had the instinct to keep quiet: exile, racism, shame”. It will be followed, in February 2024, by the youth album Going from afar (The car).
To honor her talent, her legacy and her audacity, the Equity, Diversity and Mobilization general directorate of Radio-Canada announced the creation, on May 14, of a literary prize in honor of the author. This prize will reward a novel or essay published in French by an emerging writer from diverse backgrounds.