Her radiant smile warmed every place she was, and her lively and inspired words, carried by the loving relationship she had with literature, her respect for the living and her fierce fight for a fairer world, will resonate for a long time to come. to the ears of those who were lucky enough to cross his path. The writer and sociologist Caroline Dawson has laid down her arms Sunday, at the age of 44, after a long and difficult battle with cancer.
The author announced in August 2021 that she had an aggressive tumor – a 25 cm osteosarcoma – that no treatment has managed to eradicate.
“Last night, I lost my greatest accomplice, my confidante, my best friend, my big sister who taught me everything, the one who inspired me with words, tunes, gestures, something like a style and tenacity full of tenderness,” his brother, author Nicholas Dawson, wrote on Facebook on Monday. He added that he was able to thank her for everything before her departure, which was done “to her lover”.
“Caroline had this magic of being able to really, very spontaneously enter into relationships with people,” relates Nancy B. Pilon, who claims to have had a real “love at first sight” friendship for M.me Dawson. “She saw the light in everyone she met. She automatically made us want to be a better person. »
Born in Chile in 1979, then having immigrated to Quebec with her family at the age of seven, Caroline Dawson conquered the province from 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 young refugee, tells the story of a seven-year-old girl who flees the Pinochet dictatorship for Canada. A story of learning, cultural shocks, shame, rejection, self-denial, silences and voids which is presented as a mosaic of everything that exile and integration imply, and of the choices that must be made do those who live them.
Winner of the Literary Prize for college students, finalist, among others, for the Prix des libraires du Québec and the Combat national des livres de Radio-Canada, this first novel, which allowed thousands of immigrants to recognize themselves and finally know themselves read and understood, sat at the top of the booksellers’ sales charts for nearly three years, selling tens of thousands of copies – a feat in Quebec. It was also the subject of a stage adaptation in 2023, at the La Bordée theater.
“It was time for a pen like his to arrive in Quebec,” says Natalie-Ann Roy, who was one of his collaborators and friends. In her opinion, the writer’s texts helped to open the horizons of Quebecers. “They gave us access to much more, to a shared history, precisely, with first or second generation immigrant communities. »
“She was a weaver of words, love and communities,” she adds in an interview with The dutyemphasizing the unifying side of the author.
Involved until the end
As soon as her diagnosis was announced in 2021, Caroline Dawson asked her friends, the media and people in the literary world to continue to send her invitations, wanting to remain actively engaged in all spheres of her life. The one who notably worked as a sociology professor at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit and as co-organizer of the Montreal Youth Literature Festival, continued to write, speak publicly, sit on literary juries and highlight the work of peers.
Among other things, she kept a diary in 2022, in which she recounted her experience with cancer, on the morning show Penelopeon the airwaves of Radio-Canada, as well as a literary column on the microphone ofThere will always be cultureon the same antenna.
Despite her success, the novelist often said that writing was a difficult exercise for her, which she compared in particular to “a physical education class in high school”. However, few things could stop this luminous beating. In February 2023, she published What are you (Triptych), a first collection of poetry which recounts everything that the writer “had the instinct to keep silent: exile, racism, shame”, in order to offer it as a legacy to her son . It is followed, in February 2024, by the youth album Going from afar (La Carnole), which features a young girl newly arrived in the country who must relearn everything, from winter to the language.
A committed writer and sociologist, Caroline Dawson has never hesitated to speak out to defend the most deprived, the voiceless and all those who operate on the margins. In 2023, in an interview with the magazine Booksellersshe said: “Indignation is one of the driving forces of my existence. […] I have the impression that sometimes people think that indignation is rooted in harshness, in raw anger when it comes from a place full of love, kindness and freedom that we want to extend. to others, to those who are deprived of it. Indignation therefore serves me to connect with those who do not have the same destiny as me, those who do not have the same social coordinates as me, those who are sometimes forgotten. And to invest myself, to intervene for a fairer world, as well as to resist the conservative forces who would like to keep it as it is. »
“Human lover”, Mme Dawson also had this ability to listen to others without judging them, remembers Nancy B. Pilon. “She was able to put you in your place without it seeming, with a kind of gentleness. »
She was also an “incredible mother” for whom her two children were “her whole life”, she adds, with emotion. “The thing that pained her the most lately was that she wouldn’t see them grow up. »
Raise others
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 a diverse background. “This award that bears my name is music to my ears. I am very proud and filled with gratitude. It’s a great idea to have this legacy to give,” commented the main interested party during the announcement.
At the writer’s request, her family invited those who wanted to send flowers to instead make a donation to the Fondation du Cégep Édouard-Montpetit for the creation of a Caroline Dawson scholarship. This award will aim to “financially help young first-generation migrant women, an initiative of her friend and colleague Valérie Blanc”, we can read in a publication on social networks.
“The fact that she is responsible for raising up-and-coming authors and migrant women through her legacy, for me, that completely represents Caroline,” says Geneviève Morand, admirer and collaborator of Mme Dawson.
In her texts, she approached her migratory journey with lucidity, while allowing herself to be vulnerable, raises Mme Morand. “I believe that this is also why so many people were challenged when reading it,” underlines the 40-year-old woman, moved.
A great transmitter, it is indeed quite a legacy that Caroline Dawson leaves: that of having, one book, one sentence and one sharing at a time, made thousands of people want to discover Quebec literature and its authors, recalling that beyond time, illness and death, the living always triumphs through the longevity of its words.