Marie-Claire Blais
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Marie-Claire Blais CC (born 5 October 1939) is a Canadian author and playwright.
Early Life
Born in Quebec City, Quebec, she was educated at a convent school and at Université Laval. She published her first novel, La Belle bête in 1959 when she turned 20. She has since written over 20 novels, several plays, collections of poetry and fiction, as well newspaper articles. Her works have been translated into numerous languages, including English and Chinese. She is the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships.Writings
Much of Blais' writing has been in the form of social commentary, with intermixed elements of good and evil in settings part real, and part fantasy. Her works lean toward the tragic, within a hostile society of vice and violence. The strength of Blais' writing ability is rewarding to the reader in spite of the darker aspects of her themes.In 1963, Blais moved to the United States, initially living in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Later she relocated to Wellfleet on Cape Cod. In 1975, after two years living in Brittany, she moved back to Quebec with her partner, Mary Meigs. For about twenty years she divided her time between Quebec and Key West, Florida.
Relationships
Blais was openly lesbian. While in Cape Cod, Blais met a lesbian couple, writer Mary Meigs and activist Barbara Deming. Blais and Meigs would eventually become lovers, and Blais moved in with Meigs and Deming, separating from another lesbian lover with whom she had been with for some time. [link]For a while Blais, Meigs, and Deming were involved in a three-way relationship, which ended with the break up of Meigs and Deming. Blais and Meigs later become involved in yet another three-way relationship with a female French novelist. [link]
Impact
In 1972 she became a Companion of the Order of Canada.Her works Le Sourd dans la ville (1979) and Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (1965) have been adapted for the cinema.
Works
- La Belle Bête (Mad Shadows) - 1959
- Tête Blanche (Tête Blanche) - 1960
- Le Jour est noir - ("The Day is Dark" in The Day is Dark and Three Travellers) 1962
- Pays voilés ("Veiled Countries" in Veiled Countries/Lives) - 1963
- Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (A Season in the Life of Emmanuel) - 1965
- L'insoumise (The Fugitive) - 1966
- Existences ("Lives" in Veiled Countries/Lives) - 1967
- Les Manuscrits de Pauline Archange (The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange) - 1968
- L'exécution (The Execution) - 1968
- Les Voyageurs sacrés ("Three Travelllers" in The Day is Dark and Three Travellers) - 1969
- Vivre! Vivre! (The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange) - 1969
- Le Loup (The Wolf) - 1970
- Un Joualonais, sa Joualonie (St. Lawrence Blues) - 1973
- Fièvre et autres textes dramatiques - 1974
- Une Liaison parisienne (A Literary Affair) - 1975
- Les Apparences (Dürer's Angel) - 1976
- Océan suivi de murmures - 1977
- Les Nuits de l'underground (Nights in the Underground) - 1978
- Le Sourd dans la ville (Deaf to the City) - 1979
- Visions d'Anna ou Le vertige (Anna's World) - 1982
- Sommeil d'hiver (Wintersleep) - 1984]
- Pierre, la guerre du printemps (Pierre) - 1984
- L'Île (The Island) - 1989
- L'Ange de la solitude (The Angel of Solitude) - 1989
- Parcours d'un écrivain: Notes américaines (American Notebooks: A Writer's Journey) - 1993
- Soifs (These Festive Nights) - 1995
- (The Exile and the Sacred Travellers) - 2000
- Dans la foudre et la lumière (Thunder and Light) - 2001
- The Collected Radio Drama of Marie-Claire Blais - 2005
Awards
- Prix France-Canada - 1965
- Prix Médicis - 1966
- Prix Athanase-David - 1982
- Prix Ludger-Duvernay - 1988
- Governor General's Literary Award - 1996
- Prix d'Italie - 1999
- W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize - 2000
- Prix Prince Pierre de Monaco - 2002
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