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François Blais (writer)

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Canadian writer (1973 – 2022)

François Blais
Born(1973-01-03)January 3, 1973
Grand-Mère, Quebec, Canada
DiedMay 14, 2022(2022-05-14) (aged 49)
Charette, Quebec, Canada
OccupationWriter
Notable workLac Adélard
AwardsGovernor General’s Literary Award

François Blais ((1973-01-03)January 3, 1973 – (2022-05-14)May 14, 2022) was a Canadian writer from Quebec who received the 2020 Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature for his novel Lac Adélard.

Biography

François Blais was born in 1973 in the small town of Grand-Mère in the Mauricie region of Quebec. He grew up in a house with a library filled with titles like Tintin, Bob Morane, and books from the Countess of Ségur.

He published his first novel, Iphigénie en Haute-Ville at the age of 32 in 2006, which quickly became a finalist for several literary prizes, namely the Prix des libraires du Québec, the Prix France-Québec and the Prix Senghor de la création littéraire. Although he had until then worked primarily as a translator, Blais published a book almost every year, and beginning in 2016, had alternated between adult and children's books all while being employed as a night custodian for a shopping centre in Trois-Rivières.

Blais was also particularly stingy with biographical details in the rare interviews he did grant. His work was first translated in 2018, when his novel Document 1 appeared in English under the same title.

He lived in Quebec City and, in 2016, moved to a farm in the village of Charette in the county of Maskinongé in Quebec to live with his sister. Blais died there on May 14, 2022, at the age of 49.

On December 16, 2022, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services issued a warning about his novel The Boy with Upside-Down Feet, claiming that the book could incite young readers to suicide. There was a swift and negative public reaction to the warning from the media and the literary and medical communities.

Works

Blais' novels contain autobiographical elements, which are often rooted in his hometown of Grand-Mère in Quebec. Since his works are initially characterized by quirky and scathing humour, he never resorted to autofiction.

His sixth novel, La classe de Madame Valérie, which traces the life of a group of 11-year-old classmates at Laflèche school in Grand-Mère, Quebec, was published in 2013, and received praise from many, and in particular from veteran Quebec journalist Pierre Foglia.

Un livre sur Mélanie Cabay, inspired by the 1994 disappearance and death of a young woman was published in 2018. In 2020, his novel Lac Adélard, won the Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature at the 2020 Governor General's Awards.

His 2012 novel Document 1 was published in English in 2018 by Book*hug in a translation by JC Sutcliffe, under the same title. It was the first of his works to be translated in another language.

Novels and short stories

Children's books

Collaborations

Awards and honours

References

  1. ^ Nault, Sarah-Émilie (July 25, 2021). "Croire aux fantômes". Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  2. ^ "LQ", Wikipédia (in French), October 15, 2022, retrieved May 16, 2023
  3. ^ "Le mystère François Blais". La Fabrique culturelle (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  4. Hebblethwaite, David (June 7, 2018). "Document 1 – François Blais". David's Book World. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  5. "François Blais". Éditions les 400 coups (in French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  6. Dumais, Manon (May 14, 2022). "L'écrivain François Blais n'est plus". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  7. "2023 - Suicide theme | The school community warned against a novel by François Blais" (in Turkish). December 30, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  8. "Le dérapage du ministère de la Santé". La Presse+ (in French). December 31, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  9. "Lettre de la Santé sur François Blais: le milieu littéraire se questionne". Le Soleil (in French). December 29, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  10. Cossette, Josiane (January 9, 2023). "François Blais mérite mieux qu'une mise à l'index". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  11. Lapointe, Josée (April 15, 2013). "François Blais : de Han Solo à écrivain". La Presse (in French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  12. Laurin, Danielle (March 15, 2014). "Ringuet à l'ombre de François Blais". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  13. Laperrière, Simon (April 24, 2018). ""Un livre sur Mélanie Cabay" de François Blais chez L'instant même". Bible urbaine (in French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  14. Hamelin, Marilyse (March 21, 2018). "Des dizaines de femmes tuées, les meurtriers jamais inquiétés". Châtelaine (in French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  15. Larochelle, Claudia (May 11, 2018). "En librairie : Mkdeville et Girard, Blais et Desrosiers". L'actualité (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  16. VOIR, L'équipe web du (April 4, 2013). "Les créations littéraires de François Blais et Martine Latulippe récompensées". voir.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 10, 2021.
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