Antonine Maillet
Encyclopedia
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
novelist, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche
Bouctouche, New Brunswick
Bouctouche is a Canadian town in Kent County, New Brunswick and in 2006 Census the population was 2,383.The town is located at the mouth of the Bouctouche River on the coast of the Northumberland Strait, approximately 40 kilometres northeast of Moncton....
, New Brunswick and lives 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...
, Quebec
Quebec
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....
.
Following high school, she received her BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the Université de Moncton
Université de Moncton
The Université de Moncton is a French language university located in Moncton, New Brunswick serving the Acadian community of Atlantic Canada...
, followed by an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from the same institution. She then received her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in literature in 1970 from the Université Laval
Université Laval
Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
. She taught literature and folklore at Laval, then 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...
between 1971 to 1976. She later worked for Radio-Canada in Moncton as a script writer and host.
In 1976 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
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...
and was promoted to Companion in 1981. Maillet was awarded 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...
's Lorne Pierce Medal
Lorne Pierce Medal
The Lorne Pierce Medal is awarded every two years by the Royal Society of Canada to recognize achievement of special significance and conspicuous merit in imaginative or critical literature written in either English or French...
in 1980. In 1985 she was made an Officier des Arts et des Lettres de France and in 2005 she was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick
Order of New Brunswick
The Order of New Brunswick is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Instituted in 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bernard Lord, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended...
. She is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
.
In 1979 her work Pélagie-la-Charrette won the Prix Goncourt
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
, giving her the distinction of being the only non-European to be awarded the prize until that date.
In 1988, Antonine Maillet had the honour of hosting the French-language Leaders' Debate
Canadian leaders debates
Canadian leaders debates are leaders debates televised during federal elections in Canada, made up of two debates, one in French and one in English, usually held on back-to-back nights. The first time these debates were held was during the 1968 election...
for Radio-Canada TV between Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
, Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Leader John Turner
John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984....
, and New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
leader Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
.
Works
- Pointe-aux-Coques - 1958
- On a mangé la dune - 1962
- Les Crasseux - 1968
- La SagouineLa SagouineLa Sagouine is a play written by New Brunswick author Antonine Maillet that tells the story of la Sagouine, an Acadian washerwoman from rural New Brunswick. The play is a collection of monologues, written in Acadian French...
- 1971 - Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie - 1971
- Don l'Orignal - 1972 (winner of the (1972 Governor General's Award for Fiction1972 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1972 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: Robertson Davies, The Manticore...
) - Par derrière chez mon père - 1972
- Gapi et Sullivan - 1973
- Mariaagélas - 1973
- gapi - 1976
- La Veuve enragée - 1977
- Les Cordes-de-bois - 1977
- Le Bourgeois Gentleman - 1978
- Pélagie-la-Charrette - 1979 (winner of the Prix GoncourtPrix GoncourtThe Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
) - La Contrebandière - 1981
- Les Drolatiques, Horrifiques et Épouvantables Aventures de Panurge, ami de Pantagruel - 1981
- Crache à pic - 1984
- Garrochés en paradis - 1986
- Le Huitième Jour - 1986
- Margot la folle - 1987
- L'Oursiade - 1990
- William S. - 1991
- Les Confessions de Jeanne de Valois - 1992
- La Nuit des rois - 1993
- La Fontaine ou la Comédie des animaux - 1995
- Le Chemin Saint-Jacques - 1996
- L'Île-aux-Puces - 1996
- Chronique d'une sorcière de vent 1999
- Madame Perfecta - 2002
See also: List of French Canadian writers from outside Quebec, List of Quebec authors