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 (January 3, 1973 – 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.[1]

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.[2]

Blais was also particularly stingy with biographical details in the rare interviews he did grant.[3] His work was first translated in 2018, when his novel Document 1 appeared in English under the same title.[4]

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.[5][2] Blais died there on May 14, 2022, at the age of 49.[6]

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.[7] There was a swift and negative public reaction to the warning from the media and the literary and medical communities.[8][9][10]

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.[3]

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,[11] and in particular from veteran Quebec journalist Pierre Foglia.[12]

Un livre sur Mélanie Cabay, inspired by the 1994 disappearance and death of a young woman was published in 2018.[13][14][15] 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.[1]

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

  • 2006 – Iphigénie en Haute-Ville (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895022824
  • 2007 – Nous autres ça compte pas (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895022473
  • 2008 – Le Vengeur masqué contre les hommes-perchaude de la lune (L’instant même) ISBN 9782896471416
  • 2009 – Vie d’Anne-Sophie Bonenfant (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895022862
  • 2011 – La nuit des morts-vivants (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023074
  • 2012 – Document 1 (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023197
  • 2013 – La classe de madame Valérie (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023357
  • 2014 – Sam (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023456
  • 2015 – Cataonie (short stories) (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023609
  • 2017 – Les Rivières, suivi de Les Montagnes : Deux histoires de fantômes (short stories) (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895023906
  • 2018 – Un livre sur Mélanie Cabay (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895024064
  • 2021 – La seule chose qui intéresse tout le monde (L'instant même) ISBN 9782895024521

Children's books

  • 2016 – 752 lapins (400 coups) ISBN 9782895406853
  • 2017 – Le livre où la poule meurt à la fin (400 coups) ISBN 9782895406976
  • 2019 – Lac Adélard, illustrated by Iris Boudreau (La courte échelle) ISBN 9782897742249
  • 2020 – L’Horoscope (400 coups) ISBN 9782895408659

Collaborations

  • 2015 – "Nous avons un problème", collection of short stories Il n’y a que les fous (L’instant même) ISBN 9782895028833, 2895028834

Awards and honours

References

  1. 1 2 Nault, Sarah-Émilie (July 25, 2021). "Croire aux fantômes". Le Journal de Montréal (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "LQ", Wikipédia (in French), October 15, 2022, retrieved May 16, 2023
  3. 1 2 "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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