Search for "New France"

Alice Jones, writer (b at Halifax 26 Aug 1853; d at Menton, France 27 Feb 1933). Developing international themes and the "New Woman" figure in her novels, Jones counterpointed the superficiality of European life against the vitality of Canadian society and character.

Nancy Louise Huston, novelist, essayist (b at Calgary, Alta, 16 Sep 1953). Nancy Huston grew up in Calgary and Wilton, New Hampshire. In 1973, after attending Sarah Lawrence College, she moved to France, where she studied at the Université de Paris under Roland Barthes.

Antonine Maillet, CC, OQ, ONB, novelist, playwright, translator, scholar (born 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, NB).

Guy Frégault, historian (b at Montréal 16 June 1918; d at Québec C 13 Dec 1977). Frégault pursued classical studies at Saint-Laurent and Jean-de-Brébeuf colleges in Montréal. He then enrolled in Université de Montréal and eventually completed his PhD in history at Loyola University, Chicago in 1949.

Adam Gopnik, essayist, author, critic (born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 24 Aug 1956). While born in America, Gopnik was raised in Montréal, where he completed a BA at McGill University. He moved to New York, a city that remains his home, to attend graduate school.

Agnes Maule Machar, novelist, poet, historian (b at Kingston, Ont 23 Jan 1837; d there 24 Jan 1927). An important reformist and literary figure in Victorian Canada, she was a prolific writer who published poetry, several novels and volumes of history and biography.

Alain Chartrand, director, author (b at Longueuil, Qué 2 Feb 1946). Alain Chartrand did his secondary studies at Collège Marie-Victorin and then enrolled in the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montréal, playing trumpet and double bass.

Yves Michaud, journalist, diplomat and politician (born 13 February 1930 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec).

Vigneault always touches his audiences with the sheer force of poetry, sincerity and youth emanating from his work. His rousing song MON PAYS (1964) sealed his popularity at home and abroad, and for many Québécois it has become an anthem.

Gilles Vigneault.

Marie-Claire Blais, C.C., O.C., M.S.R.C., novelist, dramatist and poet (born 5 October 1939 in Quebec City). Among the best known and most studied of Canadian authors, she has close to 50 works to her name. A proud activist in support of the francophonie, she explores violence, rebellion and hate, and other themes through her work.

Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, journalist, novelist, essayist, playwright, publisher, polemicist (b at Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, Que, 2 Sep 1945).

(Paul) André Asselin. Pianist, composer, writer, born Montreal, 25 Feb 1923, died Montreal 26 Jan 2012. He began piano study with Auguste Descarries and, on two scholarships (1945,1946) from the TCM (RCMT) studied with Ernest Seitz and Lubka Kolessa.

Bernadette Renaud, author, playwright (born 18 April 1945 in Ascot Corner, Québec).

Frère Marie-Victorin (born Conrad Kirouac), member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, botanist, teacher (born 3 April 1885 in Kingsey Falls, QC; died 15 July 1944 in St-Hyacinthe, QC). A self-taught botanist, Frère Marie-Victorin was the first chair of botany at Université de Montréal, founder of the Institut de Botanique and the Montréal Botanical Garden, and author of Flore laurentienne (1935). He also co-founded the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences, the Société canadienne d'histoire naturelle, and the Cercles des jeunes naturalistes, and actively promoted science in popular as well as academic publications. A French Canadian nationalist, Marie-Victorin believed that knowledge of Québec’s natural world would inspire pride in French Canadians and enable them to take possession of their land.

Zelda (b Cohen) Heller. Administrator, music and drama critic, b New Brunswick, NJ, 2 Dec 1922, died Victoria 4 Aug 2012, naturalized Canadian 1972; B SC (Juilliard) 1945, MA (Columbia) 1948.

Alison Ruth Gordon, novelist, journalist (b at New York, NY 19 Jan 1943). Educated at Queen's University, she worked for CBC radio and television and as a sportswriter for the Toronto Star.

Nelly Arcan, née Isabelle Fortier (born 5 March 1973 in Lac-Mégantic, QC; died 24 September 2009 in Montréal, QC) was a Québec novelist who specialized in autobiographical fiction.

Carol Shields, novelist, poet, playwright, biographer (born at Oak Park, Illinois 2 Jun 1935; died at Victoria, BC 16 Jul 2003). Shields was educated at Hanover College, Indiana, the University of Exeter England, and the University of Ottawa.

Anne Hébert, CC, poet, playwright, novelist (born 1 August 1916 in Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault, QC; died 22 January 2000 in Montréal). A Companion of the Order of Canada, a member of the Royal Society of Canada, and a three-time winner of the Governor General’s Award, Anne Hébert's career was founded on a disciplined life devoted to writing. Her poetry and prose are models for other writers and have been analysed in hundreds of studies, particularly in Québec, but also in France and English Canada.