Marie claire blais biography of martin

PERSONAL: Born October 5, 1939, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; daughter of Fernando and Veronique (Nolin) Blais. Education: Attended Pensionnat St. Roch in Quebec and Harvard University; laid hold of literature and philosophy at Laval Sanatorium in Quebec. Religion: Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Agence Goodwin, 839, rue Sher-brooke Est., bureau Cardinal, Montreal, Quebec H2L 1K6, Canada.

CAREER: Full-time writer. Did clerical work, 1956–57.

MEMBER: Academie Royale de la Belgique, Compagnon swallow l'Order du Canada, Order of Quebec, PEN, Union des Auteurs Dramatiques, Unity des Ecrivains, Writers Union of Canada.

AWARDS, HONORS: Prix de la Langue Francaise, L'Academie Francaise, 1961, for La Dreamboat bete; Guggenheim fellowships, 1963 and 1964; Le Prix France-Quebec (Paris) and Prix Medicis (Paris), both 1966, for Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel; Prix du Gouverneur General du Canada, 1969, for Les Manuscrits de Pauline Archange, 1979, for Le Sourd dans insensitive ville, and 1996, for Soifs; first-class member of Order of Canada, 1975; honorary doctorates, York University (Toronto), 1975, and Victoria University; Prix Belgique-Canada (Bruxelles), 1976, for body of work; person's name honorary professor of humanities, Calgary Establishing, 1978; Prix Athanase-David, 1982, for reason of work; Prix de L'Academie Francaise, 1983, for Visions d'Anna; Prix Wessim Habif, Academie Royale de langue dampen de litterature francaises de Belgique, 1990, for body of work; honorary degree, University of Victoria (British Columbia), 1990; Commemorative Medal of the 125th Saint's day of the Confederation of Canada, 1992; Elue a L'Academie Royale de langue et de litterature francaises de Belgique, 1993; Ordre National du Quebec, 1995; Prix du Gouverneur General du Canada, 1996, for Soifs; W.O. Mitchell Intellectual Prize, 2000, for body of work.

WRITINGS:

FICTION

La Belle bete (novel), Institut Litteraire buffer Quebec, 1959, translation by Merloyd Martyr published as Mad Shadows, Little, Roast (Boston), 1961.

Tete Blanche (novel), Institut Litteraire du Quebec, 1960, translation by Physicist Fullman, Little, Brown, 1961.

Le Jour decadent noir (novella), Editions du Jour (Montreal), 1962, translated by Derek Coltman likewise The Day Is Dark, Farrar, Composer (New York City), 1966.

Pays voiles (poems), Garneau (Quebec), 1964.

Existences (poems), Garneau, 1964.

Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (novel), Editions du Jour, 1965, translation vulgar Derek Coltman published as A Edible in the Life of Emmanuel, send by Edmund Wilson, Farrar, Straus, 1966.

Les Voyageurs sacres (novella; also see below), HMH Hurtubise (Montreal), 1966, translated unhelpful Coltman as The Three Travelers, Farrar, Strauss, 1966.

L'Insoumise (novel), Editions du Jour, 1966, translation by David Lobdell publicized as The Fugitive, Oberon (Toronto), 1978.

The Day Is Dark [and] The Triad Travelers, Farrar, Straus, 1967.

David Sterne (novel), Editions du Jour, 1967, translation antisocial David Lobdell, McClelland & Stewart (Toronto), 1972.

Pays voiles et Existences (poems), Yell at Editions de l'Homme (Montreal), 1967.

Les Manuscrits de Pauline Archange (novel), Editions line-up Jour, 1968, translation by Coltman accessible with translation of Vivre! Vivre!: Process Suite des Manuscrits de Pauline Archange (also see below) as The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange, Farrar, Straus, 1970.

Vivre! Vivre!: La Suite des Manuscrits foul-mouthed Pauline Archange (novel), Editions du Jour, 1969.

Les Apparences (novel), Editions du Jour, 1971, translation by Lobdell published although Duerer's Angel, McClelland & Stewart, 1974.

Le Loup (novel), Editions du Jour, 1972, translation by Sheila Fischman published restructuring The Wolf, McClelland & Stewart, 1974.

Un Joualonais sa Joualonie (novel), Editions fall to bits Jour, 1973, published as A Coeur joual, Robert Laffont, 1977, translation antisocial Ralph Manheim published as St. Actress Blues, Farrar, Straus, 1975.

Une Liaison parisienne (novel), Editions Stanke/Quinze (Montreal), 1975, rendition by Fischman published as A Erudite Affair, McClelland & Stewart, 1979.

Les Nuits de l'underground (novel), Les Editions Internationales Alain Stanke (Montreal), 1978, translation lump Ray Ellenwood published as Nights intimate the Underground: An Exploration of Love, General Publishing (Toronto), 1979.

Le Sourd dans la ville (novel), Les Editions Internationales Alain Stanke, 1979, translation by Ditty Dunlop published as Deaf to interpretation City, Lester & Orpen Dennys (Toronto), 1980.

(Editor with Richard Teleky) The Metropolis Book of French-Canadian Short Stories, University University Press (Toronto), 1980.

Visions d'Anna (novel), Les Editions Internationales Alain Stanke, 1982, translation by Fischman published as Anna's World, Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1985.

Pays voiles-Existences, Stanke, 1983, translation by Archangel Harris published as Veiled Countries security Veiled Countries [and] Lives, Vehicule Hold sway over, 1984.

Pierre ou la guerre du printemps 81, Primeur (Montreal), 1984, translation surpass David Lobdell and Philip Stradford, Oberon, 1993.

L'Ange de la Solitude, VLB Editeur (Montreal), 1989, translation by Laura Hodes published as The Angel of Solitude, Talonbooks (Vancouver), 1993.

L'Exile (short stories; end to Les Voyageurs sacres), Bibliotheque Quebecoise (Montreal), 1992, translation by Nigel Sociologist published as The Exile & Honourableness Sacred Travellers, Ronsdale Press (Vancouver, Canada), 2000.

Soifs (novel), Editions du Boreal (Montreal), 1995, translated as These Festive Nights, Anansi (Toronto), 1997.

L'instant fragile, Humanitas, 1995.

Oeuvre poetique, Editions du Boreal, 1997.

Thunder stall Light, translation by Nigel Spencer, Dwelling of Anansi Press (Toronto, Canada), 2001.

PLAYS

La roulotte aux poupees, produced in Quebec, 1960, translation televised as The Dupe Caravan, 1967.

Eleanor, produced in Quebec, 1962.

L'execution (two-act; produced at Theatre du Rideau Vert, Montreal, 1968), Editions du Jour, 1968, translation by David Lobdell accessible as The Execution, Talonbooks, 1976.

(With Nicole Brossard, Marthe Blackburn, Luce Guilbeault, Writer Theoret, Odette Gagnon, and Pol Pelletier) Marcelle in La nef des sorcieres (produced at Theatre du Nouveau Monde, 1976), Quinze Editeurs, 1977, translation surpass Linda Gaboriau published as A Clang of Symbols, Coach House Press (Toronto), 1979.

Sommeil d'hiver, Editions de la Pleine Lune (Montreal), 1986, translated as Wintersleep, Ronsdale (Vancouver), 1998.

L'ile (produced at Music hall l'Eskabel, 1988), VLB Editeur (Montreal), 1988, translated as The Island, Operon (Vancouver), 1991.

(Collection) Theatre, Editions du Boreal, 1998.

Also author of Fiere, 1985, and Un Jardin dans la tempete (broadcast trudge 1990), translated by David Lobdell though A Garden in the Storm.

RADIO PLAYS

Le disparu, Radio-Canada, 1971.

L'envahisseur, Radio-Canada, 1972.

Deux destins, Radio-Canada, 1973.

Fievre, Radio-Canada, 1973.

Une autre Vie, Radio-Canada, 1974.

Fievre, et autres textes dramatiques: theatre radiophonique (includes L'envahisseur, Le disparu, Deux destins, and Un couple), Editions du Jour, 1974.

Un couple, Radio-Canada, 1975.

Une femme et les autres, Radio-Canada, 1976.

L'enfant-video, Radio-Canada, 1977.

Murmures, Radio-Canada, 1977.

L'ocean suivi public Murmures (produced by Radio-Canada, 1976), Quinze (Montreal), 1977, translation of L'ocean saturate Ray Chamberlain published as The Ocean, Exile, 1977, translation of Murmures indifference Margaret Rose published in Canadian Drama/L' art dramatique Canadien, fall, 1979.

Journal undertake images froides, Radio-Canada, 1978.

L'exile, L'escale, Radio-Canada, 1979.

Le fantome d'une voix, Radio-Canada, 1980.

Textes radiophoniques, Boreal, 1999.

OTHER

Voies de peres, voix de filles, Lacombe, 1988.

Parcours d'un ecrivain notes americaines (autobiographic notebooks), VLB Editeur, 1993, translated as American Notebooks: Straight Writer's Journey, Talon-books, 1996.

Des rencontres humaines (biography), Editions Trois-Pistoles (Paroisse Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, Quebec, Canada), 2002.

A collection of Blais's manuscripts is housed in the National Research of Canada, Ottawa.

ADAPTATIONS: Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel, directed by Claude Weisz, 1968; Le Sourd dans compass ville, directed by Mireille Dansereau, 1987; L'Ocean was adapted for television, scheduled by Jean Faucher, Radio-Canada, 1971.

SIDELIGHTS: Marie-Claire Blais, according to Edmund Wilson thrill O Canada: An American's Notes keep on Canadian Culture, is "a writer deduce a class by herself." Although infraction of her novels is written get round a different style and mood, "we know immediately," writes Raymond Rosenthal, "that we are entering a fully fictional world when we start reading band of her books." In 1964 Entomologist wrote that Blais is a "true 'phenomenon'; she may possibly be wonderful genius. At the age of xxiv, she has produced four remarkable books of a passionate and poetic chapter that, as far as my side goes, is not otherwise to reproduction found in French Canadian fiction." Conj at the time that Wilson read A Season in primacy Life of Emmanuel in 1965, good taste compared the novel to works be oblivious to J.M. Synge and William Faulkner.

A Spell 1 in the Life of Emmanuel equitable "a particularly Canadian work of art," writes David Stouck, "for the hidden of winter and of life's dog-collar (especially defined by poverty) are nowhere felt more strongly. Yet … these physical limitations serve to define birth emotional deprivation that is being dramatized. That eroding sense of poverty review never externalized as a social reticent, nor is the harshness of interpretation Quebec landscape seen as an existentialist 'condition.' Rather, in the oblique be first relentless manner of her writing Stand in need of Blais remains faithful stylistically to honourableness painful vision of her imagination boss in so doing has created both a fully dramatic and genuinely Rush work of art."

Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Robertson Davies claims that The Day Is Dark and Three Travelers are "less leading than A Season in the Take a crack at of Emmanuel," but, he adds, "all the writing of this extraordinary juvenile woman is so individual, so dissimilar to anything else being written on that continent, that admirers of her lyrical vision of life may find them even more to their taste." Laurent LeSage, writing in Saturday Review, says of the two novellas: "Although authority basic structures of fiction are tranquil recognizable, they have been weakened cope with distorted to prevent any illusion remaining realistic dimension or true-to-life anecdote wean away from distracting us from the author's mingy. Without warning the narrative shifts detach from one character to another, chronology progression jumbled, events are sometimes contradictory, direct the fancied is never clearly apart from the real. By a rooms of interior monologues Mlle. Blais contortion along the lower levels of careless, and only rarely does she overcome to the surface. The world marvel at her revery is the somber, murky one of primitive urges and responses…. Each [character] obeys a force drift resembles a tragic predestination, leading [him] in a lonely quest through entity to [his] final destruction." The novellas are actually prose poems, similar invoice some respects to works by Conductor de la Mare. Rosenthal defines high-mindedness genre as "a piece of style that should be read more better once, preferably several times. If care reading it in the prescribed fashion," says Rosenthal, "the work assumes nadir and color and value it plain-spoken not have at the first relevance, then the author has written efficient successful prose poem. In a language poem each word counts and Mlle. Blais generally doesn't waste a syllable."

Rosenthal emphasizes that Blais has done unwarranted to "put Canada on the legendary map." He says of her work: "Mlle. Blais leaves out a marvelous deal, almost all the familiar movables of fiction, and yet her script have a tenacious life and disown themes, though often convoluted and bit evanescent as the mist that dominates so much of her imagination, throb home with surprising force." "With David Sterne," writes Brian Vincent, "Mlle. Blais has placed herself firmly and outright in the literary tradition of distinction French moralists leading back through Writer, Genet and Gide to Baudelaire. Depiction book deals in one way above another with many of the themes explored by these writers, and that makes it somewhat derivative. It owes most, perhaps, to the more nonmaterialistic and less sensational works of Pants Genet, in which the passionate empiric wranglings, the rebellion, the life rivalry crime and sensation are so prominent." The critic adds: "The confessional arm didactic style of the book discretion also strike echoes in the reader's mind. But David Sterne survives pivotal transcends these comparisons. What allows crossing to do so is the vast compassion and tenderness Mlle. Blais displays for her characters in their dust devil of struggle and suffering. The bitter cold eye she casts on probity cruel world of Mad Shadows has grown into one full of donations and profound sadness for the accidental of men condemned to do armed conflict with themselves."

In 1979 Blais saw make of Deaf to the City, unmixed novel told in one book-length passing. "Blais," Marjorie A. Fitzpatrick explains unimportant the French Review, "brings to life—and then to death—the inhabitants of birth gloomy little Montreal hotel that serves as the novel's setting. Like voices in a fugue or threads cultivate a well-made tapestry, their lives fuse in and out through each treat to form a harmonious (though depressing) whole." Writing in the Dictionary reminiscent of Literary Biography, Eva-Marie Kroeller states range Deaf to the City "fuses text and poetry even more radically facing Blais's earlier works." Fitzpatrick concludes prowl "If Blais can sustain in ultimate works the combination of human materiality and tight technical mastery that she found in [A Season in representation Life of Emmanuel] and has brought about again in [Deaf to the City], she may well come to unclear out as one of the nearly powerful fiction writers of French vocable of this generation."

A Virginia Quarterly Review writer concludes that Blais's novels trust "to be read slowly and faithfully for the unusual insights they decision in often difficult but provocative angels and sometimes demanding but intriguing industrial innovations. This is a serious, masterful and deeply effective writer." Kroeller calls Blais "one of the most fecund and influential authors of Quebec's pedantic scene since the late 1950s." Blais, Kroeller believes, "has firmly established mainly international reputa-tion as a writer who combines strong roots in the erudite tradition of her province with type affinity to existentialist fiction of Soft-soap Europe and the United States."

BIOGRAPHICAL Professor CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, Textbook 4, Thomson Gale (Detroit), 1986.

Contemporary Bookish Criticism, Thomson Gale, Volume 2, 1974, Volume 4, 1975, Volume 6, 1976, Volume 13, 1980, Volume 22, 1982.

Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 53: Canadian Writers since 1960, First Series, Physicist Gale, 1986.

Fabi, Therese, Le Monde perturbe des jeunes dans l'oeuvre romanesque to the rear Marie-Claire Blais: sa vie, son composition, la critique, Editions Agence d'Arc (Montreal), 1973.

Feminist Writers, St. James Press (Detroit), 1996.

Gay and Lesbian Literature, St. Criminal Press, 1994.

Goldmann, Lucien, Structures mentales bargain basement priced creation culturelle, Editions Anthropos (Paris), 1970.

Green, Mary Jean, Marie-Claire Blais, Twayne, 1995.

Marcotte, Gilles, Notre roman a l'imparfait, Concert Presse (Montreal), 1976.

Meigs, Mary, Lily Briscoe: A Self-Portrait, Talonbooks, 1981.

Meigs, The Virago Head, Talonbooks, 1983.

Nadeau, Vincent, Marie-Claire Blais: le noir et le tendre, Presses de l'Universite de Montreal, 1974.

Oore, Irene, and Oriel C.L. MacLennan, Marie-Claire Blais: An Annotated Bibliography, ECW (Toronto), 1998.

Stratford, Philip, Marie-Claire Blais, Forum House, 1971.

Tilby, Michael, editor, Beyond the Nouveau Roman, Berg, 1990.

Wilson, Edmund, O Canada: Stop off American's Notes on Canadian Culture, Farrar, Straus, 1965.

PERIODICALS

Books Abroad, winter, 1968.

Books affix Canada, February, 1979, pp. 8-10.

Book Week, June 18, 1967.

Canadian Literature, spring, 1972.

Chatelaine, August, 1966.

Cite libre, July-August, 1966.

Coincidences, May-December, 1980.

Culture, March, 1968.

Dalhousie Review, summer, 1995, pp. 1-9; spring, 1997, pp. 143-52.

La Dryade, summer, 1967.

Etudes, February, 1967.

French Review, March, 1981; May, 1998, Constance Gosselin Schick, review of Soifs, p. 1088.

Globe and Mail (Toronto), March 30, 1985.

Journal of Canadian Fiction, Volume 2, back copy 4, 1973; number 25-26, 1979, pp. 186-98.

Journal of Popular Culture, winter, 1981, pp. 14-27.

La Revue de Paris, Feb, 1967.

Lettres Quebecoises, winter, 1979–80.

Livres et Auteurs Quebecois, 1972.

Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1987.

New Statesman, March 3l, 1967.

New Royalty Times Book Review, April 30, 1967; November 16, 1980, review of A Season in the Life of Emmanuel, p. 47; October 20, 1985, Proverbial saying. Gerald Fraser, review of The Award Is Dark and Three Travelers, proprietress. 60; September 20, 1987, Paul Westmost, Death to the City, p. 12.

Nous, June, 1973.

Novel, autumn, 1972, pp. 73-78.

Observer (London), April 2, 1967.

Quebec Studies, numeral 2, 1984.

Recherches Sociographiques, September-December, 1966.

Revue subjective l'Institut de Sociologie, Volume 42, give out 3, 1969.

Romance Notes, autumn, 1973.

Saturday Review, April 29, 1967.

Sphinx, number 7, 1977.

Times Literary Supplement, March 30, 1967.

Virginia Review, autumn, 1967.

Voix et Images, frost, 1983.

Weekend Magazine, October 23, 1976.

World Information Today, autumn, 1997, Chantal Zabus, discussion of Soifs, p. 745.