Blais, Marie-Claire

born Oct. 5, 1939, Quebec, Que., Can.

French-Canadian novelist and poet.

In two early, dreamlike novels, Mad Shadows (1959) and Tête blanche (1960), she staked out her territory, working-class people doomed to unrelieved sorrow and grinding poverty. A Season in the Life of Emmanuel (1965) received the Prix Médicis and was widely translated and discussed. Later works include The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange (1968, Governor General's Award) and Deaf to the City (1979, Governor General's Award). She received the Governor General's Award again in 1996 for Soifs (1995). She has also published poetry collections and several plays.

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▪ French-Canadian author

born Oct. 5, 1939, Quebec, Que., Can.

      French-Canadian novelist and poet, known for reporting the bleak inner reality of characters born without hope, their empty lives often played out against a featureless, unnamed landscape.

      In two early dreamlike novels, La Belle Bête (1959; Mad Shadows) and Tête blanche (1960), Blais stakes out her territory—working-class people doomed to unrelieved sorrow and oppression. She moves her characters into a recognizably Canadian world in the novels Une Saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel); Manuscrits de Pauline Archange (1968) and Vivre! Vivre! (1969), published together in English as The Manuscripts of Pauline Archange in 1970; Un Joualonais sa Joualonie (1973; St. Lawrence Blues); and Le Sourd dans la ville (1979; Deaf to the City). She also published collections of poetry and several plays. In her work, inner and outer desolation pursue her social outcasts, exiles, prostitutes, homosexuals, and, especially, mothers and children through loveless relationships. Without pity or passion, Blais re-creates a harsh milieu of grinding poverty, peopled with victims tied by ignorance to low concerns. Blais studied at Laval University, Quebec, and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Additional Reading

A useful overview is Mary Jean Green, Marie-Claire Blais (1995). An analytical bibliography is Irène Oore and Oriel C.L. MacLennan, Marie-Claire Blais: An Annotated Bibliography (1998).

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