Anne Hébert
Encyclopedia
Anne Hébert, CC
, OQ
(August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian
author
and poet
. She is a descendant of famed French-Canadian historian Francois-Xavier Garneau
, "and has carried on the family literary tradition spectacularly."
She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry.
. Her father, Maurice Hébert, was a poet and literary critic. She was a cousin and childhood friend of modernist poet
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
.
She began writing poems and stories at a young age, and "found her work being published in a variety of periodicals by the time she was in her early twenties." Les Songes en Équilibre, (1942) was Hébert's first collection of poems published. It got good reviews and won her the Prix David.
In 1943 her cousin, Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, "died of a heart attack at the age of 31. In 1952, her only sister Marie died suddenly of an illness. These two events would help shape her poetic vision, full of images of death and drowning."
No Quebec publisher would publish her 1945 collection of stories, Le Torrent. It was finally published in 1950 at the expense of Roger Lemelin.
Hébert was affiliated with Canada's first film bureau. She worked for Radio Canada, Film Board of Canada and National Film Board of Canada during the 1950s.
Again, she could not find a publisher for her second book of poetry, Le Tombeau des rois (The Tomb of Kings), and had to publish it at her own expense. In 1954 Hébert used a grant from the Royal Society of Canada
to move to Paris
, thinking that the city would be more receptive to her writing.
Hébert returned to Canada in the 1990s. Her last novel Un Habit de lumière was published in 1998.
Hébert
died of bone cancer on 22 January 2000 in Montreal
.
Les Chambres de bois (1958), her first novel, "contained particularly original imagery, exploring mortally constrained worlds in which interaction is based on brutal passion and primitive violence." The book "signaled a significant shift in style and content for Québécois literature. Instead of realistic discourse, we find a literature of rebellion that is experimental and expresses a deep sense of alienation."
In 1970, "Hébert convincingly demonstrated her virtuosity in the great novel Kamouraska. Here she skillfully combines two plots in a 19th-century Québec setting. The writing has a breathless, anguished and romantic rhythm that underlines well-controlled suspense.
"Hébert's road to maturity as a poet had three stages. In 1942 she published her first collection, Les Songes en équilibre in which she portrays herself as existing in a dreamlike torpor."
"In 1953 Le Tombeau des rois appeared, in which the self triumphs over the powerful dead who rule our dreams."
"Finally, in 1960 (when Québec was in the spring of the Quiet Revolution
), the powerful verse of "Mystère de la parole" reveals the liberated self." "Mystere..." was a "new cycle of poems inspired by light, the sun, the world, and the word....
Thus Hébert's poetic trajectory was complete: from writing about solitary, anguished dreams, she had arrived at a form of expression that was both opulent and committed to the real world."
Hébert was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
in 1960.
Her Poèmes (a reprinting of Le Tombeau des rois, coupled with a section of new poems, Mystère de la parole) won the Governor General’s Award for poetry in 1960
. She twice won the Governor General's Award for fiction, for her novels Les enfants du sabbat (1975
) and L’enfant chargé desor songes (1992
).
She won the Molson Prize in 1967.
Anne Hébert won France's Prix de librairies for her 1970 novel Kamouraska and its Prix Fémina for her 1982 novel Les fous de Bassan. Both books have also been made into movies, Kamouraska in 1973 directed by Claude Jutra
, and Les fous de Bassan in 1986 by Yves Simoneau
. Kamouraska also won the Grand Prix of the Académie royale de la langue françaises de Belgique.
Hébert's work has been translated into at least seven languages, including English
, German
, Italian
, Japanese
, and Spanish
. The First Garden, the English translation of Le premier jardin, won the Félix Antoine-Savard Prize for Translation in 1991,
L’école Anne-Hébert, opened in Vancouver in 2003, is an elementary school that offers instruction from kindergarten through grade 6 in French only.
released a special commemorative series, "The Writers of Canada", with a design by Katalina Kovats, featuring two English-Canadian and two French-Canadian stamps. Three million stamps were issued. The two French-Canadian authors used were Hébert and her cousin, Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, OQ
National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as l'Ordre national du Québec, and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec...
(August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. She is a descendant of famed French-Canadian historian Francois-Xavier Garneau
François-Xavier Garneau
François-Xavier Garneau was a nineteenth century French Canadian notary, poet, civil servant and liberal who wrote a three-volume history of the French Canadian nation entitled Histoire du Canada between 1845 and 1848.Born in Quebec City, Garneau argued that Conquest was a tragedy, the consequence...
, "and has carried on the family literary tradition spectacularly."
She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry.
Life
Anne Hébert was born in Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault (now Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier), QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Her father, Maurice Hébert, was a poet and literary critic. She was a cousin and childhood friend of modernist poet
Modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature in the English language, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases of the critic setting the...
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau was a French Canadian poet and painter, who "was posthumously hailed as a herald of the Quebec literary renaissance of the 1950s." He has been called Quebec's "first truly modern poet."-Life:...
.
She began writing poems and stories at a young age, and "found her work being published in a variety of periodicals by the time she was in her early twenties." Les Songes en Équilibre, (1942) was Hébert's first collection of poems published. It got good reviews and won her the Prix David.
In 1943 her cousin, Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, "died of a heart attack at the age of 31. In 1952, her only sister Marie died suddenly of an illness. These two events would help shape her poetic vision, full of images of death and drowning."
No Quebec publisher would publish her 1945 collection of stories, Le Torrent. It was finally published in 1950 at the expense of Roger Lemelin.
Hébert was affiliated with Canada's first film bureau. She worked for Radio Canada, Film Board of Canada and National Film Board of Canada during the 1950s.
Again, she could not find a publisher for her second book of poetry, Le Tombeau des rois (The Tomb of Kings), and had to publish it at her own expense. In 1954 Hébert used a grant from the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
to move to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, thinking that the city would be more receptive to her writing.
Hébert returned to Canada in the 1990s. Her last novel Un Habit de lumière was published in 1998.
Hébert
died of bone cancer on 22 January 2000 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
Fiction
Hébert's first book of stories, Le Torrent, "a collection of tales that appeared in 1950, shocked the reading public" but has "become a classic."Les Chambres de bois (1958), her first novel, "contained particularly original imagery, exploring mortally constrained worlds in which interaction is based on brutal passion and primitive violence." The book "signaled a significant shift in style and content for Québécois literature. Instead of realistic discourse, we find a literature of rebellion that is experimental and expresses a deep sense of alienation."
In 1970, "Hébert convincingly demonstrated her virtuosity in the great novel Kamouraska. Here she skillfully combines two plots in a 19th-century Québec setting. The writing has a breathless, anguished and romantic rhythm that underlines well-controlled suspense.
Poetry
Anne Hébert "has been less prolific as a writer of poetry than of fiction, but her relatively small number of works has earned her a prominent place in the canon of Québécois poetry.""Hébert's road to maturity as a poet had three stages. In 1942 she published her first collection, Les Songes en équilibre in which she portrays herself as existing in a dreamlike torpor."
"In 1953 Le Tombeau des rois appeared, in which the self triumphs over the powerful dead who rule our dreams."
"Finally, in 1960 (when Québec was in the spring of the Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
), the powerful verse of "Mystère de la parole" reveals the liberated self." "Mystere..." was a "new cycle of poems inspired by light, the sun, the world, and the word....
Thus Hébert's poetic trajectory was complete: from writing about solitary, anguished dreams, she had arrived at a form of expression that was both opulent and committed to the real world."
Recognition
Hébert's first book of poetry, Les Songes en Équilibre, won Quebec's Prix David. She won the Prix France-Canada and the Prix Duvernay in 1958 for Les chambres de bois.Hébert was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1960.
Her Poèmes (a reprinting of Le Tombeau des rois, coupled with a section of new poems, Mystère de la parole) won the Governor General’s Award for poetry in 1960
1960 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1960 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:Fiction: Brian Moore, The Luck of Ginger Coffey...
. She twice won the Governor General's Award for fiction, for her novels Les enfants du sabbat (1975
1975 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1975 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Brian Moore, The Great Victorian Collection....
) and L’enfant chargé desor songes (1992
1992 Governor General's Awards
Each winner of the 1992 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $10,000 and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-Fiction:Winner:...
).
She won the Molson Prize in 1967.
Anne Hébert won France's Prix de librairies for her 1970 novel Kamouraska and its Prix Fémina for her 1982 novel Les fous de Bassan. Both books have also been made into movies, Kamouraska in 1973 directed by Claude Jutra
Claude Jutra
Claude Jutra was a Canadian actor, film director and writer. The Prix Jutra are named in his honor because of his importance in Quebec cinema history. He was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec....
, and Les fous de Bassan in 1986 by Yves Simoneau
Yves Simoneau
Yves Simoneau is a Canadian film and television director.-Recognition:His acclaimed 1987 crime drama Pouvoir intime garnered multiple Genie Awards nominations including best direction at the 8th Genie Awards...
. Kamouraska also won the Grand Prix of the Académie royale de la langue françaises de Belgique.
Hébert's work has been translated into at least seven languages, including English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. The First Garden, the English translation of Le premier jardin, won the Félix Antoine-Savard Prize for Translation in 1991,
L’école Anne-Hébert, opened in Vancouver in 2003, is an elementary school that offers instruction from kindergarten through grade 6 in French only.
Commemorative postage stamp
On September 8, 2003, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Library of Canada, Canada PostCanada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
released a special commemorative series, "The Writers of Canada", with a design by Katalina Kovats, featuring two English-Canadian and two French-Canadian stamps. Three million stamps were issued. The two French-Canadian authors used were Hébert and her cousin, Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau.
Novels
- Les chambres de bois. (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1958), ISBN 2-02-008805-3 -- The Silent Rooms (1974, translated by Kathy Mezei)
- Kamouraska (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1970.), ISBN 2-02-031429-0 -- Kamouraska (1974, translated by Norman Shapiro)
- Les enfants du sabbat. (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1975), ISBN 2-02-006564-9 -- Children of the Black Sabbath (1977, translated by Carol Dunlop-Hébert)
- Heloise (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 1980.), ISBN 2-02-005462-0 --
- Les fous de Bassan - (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1982.), ISBN 2-02-006243-7 -- In the Shadow of the Wind (Toronto: Anansi, 1983; translated by Sheila Fischman)
- Le premier jardin. (Paris: Seuil, 1988.), ISBN 2-02-009974-8 -- The First Garden (Toronto: Anansi, 1991; translated by Sheila Fischman)
- L'enfant chargé de songes. (Paris : Editions du Seuil, 1992), ISBN 2-02-015374-2 -- The Burden of Dreams (Toronto: Anansi, 1994; translated by Sheila Fischman)
- Est-ce que je te dérange?) - (1998) -- Am I disturbing you? (Anansi, 1999; translated by Sheila Fischman)
- Un habit de lumière. (Paris : Editions du Seuil, 1999.), ISBN 2-02-036742-4 -- A Suit of Light. (Toronto: Anansi, 2000, translated by Sheila Fischman)
- Collected Later Novels. (Toronto: Anansi, 2003, translated by Sheila Fischman), ISBN 0-88784-671-8
Poetry
- Les songes en equilibre - (1942)
- Le tombeau des rois (The Tomb of the Kings) - (1953)
- Poèmes (Poems) - (1960) -- Poems by Anne Hébert (Don Mills, ON: Musson Book Co., 1975, translated by Alan Brown)., ISBN 0-7737-1007-8
- Selected Poems - (1987) -- Selected Poems (1987)
- Le jour n'a d'égal que la nuit (Québec : Boréal, [1992]), ISBN 2-89052-519-8 Day Has No Equal But the Night (Toronto: Anansi, 1997; translated by Lola Lemire Tostevin)
- Oeuvre poétique. (1993)
- Poèmes pour la main gauche - ([Montréal]: Boréal, [1997]), ISBN 2-89052-823-5
Short stories and novellas
- Le torrent. (1950), ISBN 2-89406-033-5 -- The Torrent (1973, translated by Gwendolyn Moore)
- Aurélien, Clara, Mademoiselle et le Lieutenant anglais. (1995) ISBN 2-02-023670-2 Aurélien, Clara, Mademoiselle, and the English Lieutenant (Toronto: Anansi, 1996; translated by Sheila Fischman)
- Est-ce que je te dérange? (Paris : Editions du Seuil, 1998), ISBN 2-02-032310-9 -- Am I Disturbing You? (Toronto: Anansi, 1999; translated by Sheila Fischman)
Theater
- La Mercière assassinée -- (The Murdered Shopkeeper, translated by Eugene Benson and Renate Benson, Canadian Drama/L'Art dramatique canadien, vol. 9, no.1 (1983).)
- Le temps sauvage - (1956) -- (The Unquiet State, translated by Eugene Benson and Renate Benson, Canadian Drama/L'Art dramatique canadien, vol. 10, no. 2 (1984).)
- Les Invités au Procès -- (The Guests on Trial, translated by Eugene Benson and Renate Benson, Canadian Drama/L'Art dramatique canadien, vol. 14, no.2 (1988).)
- La cage suivi de L'île de la demoiselle - (1990)
Film scripts
- L'Éclusier (Lock-keeper) - (1953)
- The Charwoman - (1954)
- Midinette (Needles and Pins) - (1955)
- La Canne à pêche - (1959)
- Saint-Denys Garneau - (1960)
- L'Étudiant - (1961)
- KamouraskaKamouraska (film)Kamouraska is a 1973 Québécois film directed by Claude Jutra, based on the novel by Anne Hébert, who also worked as screenwriter.-Synopsis:The film is set in rural Québec in the 1830s....
- (1973) - Les Fous de BassanIn the Shadow of the WindIn the Shadow of the Wind is a 1987 Canadian drama film directed by Yves Simoneau. It was entered into the 37th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Steve Banner as Stevens Brown* Charlotte Valandrey as Olivia Atkins* Laure Marsac as Nora Atkins...
- (1987)
External links
- Anne Hébert's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- English translation of one of Hébert's poems: "Woman Bathing"