Roch Carrier, OC

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...

 (born 13 May 1937) is 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...

 novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada.

He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec

Sainte-Justine, Quebec

Sainte-Justine is a municipality in the Municipalité régionale de comté des Etchemins in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population is 1,835 as of 2009...

 and studied at the Collège St-Louis in New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, the Université de Montréal

Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...

 in Quebec, and at the Sorbonne

University of Paris

The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...

, in 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...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, where he received a doctorate in literature.

From 1994 to 1997, he served as head of the Canada Council

Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...

. In 1998

Quebec general election, 1998

The Quebec general election of 1998 was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.After the narrow defeat of...

, he ran as an electoral candidate for the Quebec Liberal Party under Jean Charest

Jean Charest

John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

, in the riding of Crémazie. He was defeated by 309 votes.

In 1991, he 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...

. From 1999 to 2004, Carrier was National Librarian of Canada

Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...

. With Ian E. Wilson

Ian E. Wilson

Ian E. Wilson is a former chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Appointed in 2004, he had previously been National Archivist of Canada. With Roch Carrier, the then National Librarian, he developed and led the process to link the National Archive and National Library as a unified institution...

, the then National Archivist, he developed the process to unify the National Archive and National Library.

In 1992, Carrier's Prayers of a Very Wise Child (Prières d'un enfant très très sage) won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour

Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour

The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour is an annual literary award presented to the best work of humorous literature in English by a Canadian writer. The award is a tribute to well-known Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock , and is accompanied by a cash prize of $15,000...

.

Carrier championed Jacques Poulin

Jacques Poulin

Jacques Poulin is a Canadian novelist with a quiet and intimate style of writing.Poulin studied psychology and arts at the Université Laval in Quebec City; he started his career as commercial translator and later became a college guidance counselor...

's novel Volkswagen Blues

Volkswagen Blues

Volkswagen Blues is a novel by French-Canadian writer Jacques Poulin. Volkswagen Blues was published in French in 1984; it was translated into English by Sheila Fischman and published by McClelland & Stewart in 1988 and subsequently re-issued by Cormorant Books in 2002.Volkswagen Blues was...

in Canada Reads 2005

Canada Reads

Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...

.

Also involved in theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 (having served as 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...

 at the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde), Carrier has adapted La guerre, yes sir! and Floralie, où es-tu? for the stage. La guerre, yes sir! was produced as a play in 1970, was performed in English at the Stratford festival, and has been made into a film. Floralie, où es-tu? was performed by Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde in 1974. The trilogy consisting of these two novels and Il est par là, le soleil sold better in English than in French.

A quote from "Le chandail de hockey" ("The Hockey Sweater

The Hockey Sweater

"The Hockey Sweater" is a short story published in 1979 by Canadian author Roch Carrier....

"), one of Carrier's contes, is reprinted on the back of the Canadian five-dollar bill

Canadian five-dollar bill

The Canadian five-dollar bill is currently the lowest denomination banknote issued by the Bank of Canada.The current five-Canadian dollar bill is dominantly blue in colour. The front features a portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the coat of arms, and a picture of the West Block of the Parliament...

. The story, about a young boy who orders a Montreal Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

 sweater from the Eaton's

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

 catalogue, but receives a Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 jersey instead, is considered by many to be a literary allegory

Allegory

Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...

 for the linguistic and cultural tensions between English and French Canadians, and is thus considered essential reading for anybody who seeks to understand the complex realities of linguistic and cultural identity in Canada. But it is also a much-beloved children's story in anglophone Canada without such complex overtones as it may have in a broader context. The National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

 has made this story into an animated short film, narrated by Carrier in both the French and English versions.

Heartbreaks Along The Road (De l'amour dans la ferraille) is a work of magical realism - he pokes fun at political and religious figures, using ridiculous scenarios, and exaggerated personality characteristics, while telling the story from different characters' points of view. There are many levels to his satire and his writing is flowery and descriptive.

Sheila Fischman

Sheila Fischman

Sheila Leah Fischman, CM is a Canadian translator who specializes in the translation of works of contemporary Quebec literature....

 has won various awards for translation of his books into English.

Roch Carrier Elementary School in Kanata, Ontario

Kanata, Ontario

Situated in the Ottawa Valley, Kanata is located about west-southwest of Downtown Ottawa along Highway 417 at a latitude of 45°18' North and a longitude of 75°55' West, with an area of . Its northern end is just to the west of the Ottawa River....

 is named after him.

Roch Carrier is the current president on the Board of Directors for the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada, or SEVEC.

Selected bibliography

• Jolis deuils: Petites tragédies pour adults — 1964
• La guerre, yes sir! — 1968 (translated as La Guerre, Yes Sir! — 1970) ISBN 0-88784-626-2
• Floralie, où es-tu ? — 1969 (translated as Floralie, Where Are You? — 1971)
• Il est par là, le soleil — 1970 (translated as Is It the Sun, Philibert? — 1972)
• Le deux-millième étage — 1973 (translated as They Won't Demolish Me! — 1974)
• Le jardin des délices — 1975 (translated as The Garden of Delights — 1978)
• Il n'y a pas de pays sans grand-père — 1977 (translated as No Country Without Grandfathers — 1981)
• Les Enfants du bonhomme dans la lune — 1979 (translated as The Hockey Sweater and other stories — 1979)
• Les voyageurs de l'arc-en-ciel — 1980 illustration & book design by François Olivier
• Céleste bicyclette — 1980 (translated as The Celestial Bicycle)
• La dame qui avait des chaînes aux chevilles — 1981 (translated as Lady with Chains)
• Le cirque noir — 1982
• Ne faites pas mal à l'avenir — 1984
• De l'amour dans la ferraille — 1984 (translated as Heartbreaks Along The Road)
• La fleur et autres personages — 1985
• Un chameau en Jordanie — 1988
• Enfants de la planète — 1989
• L'homme dans le placard — 1991
• Le cannot dans les nuages — 1991
• Prières d'un enfant très très sage — 1991 (translated as Prayers of a Very Wise Child)
• Fin — 1994 (translated as The End)
• Petit homme tornade — 1996 (translated as The Lament of Charlie Longsong)
• Prières d'un adolescent très très sage — 1998 (translated as Prayers of a Young Man)
• Une chaise — 1999
• Les moines dans la tour — 2004

See also: Canadian literature

Canadian literature

Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...

.

External links

• Roch Carrier's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia
  The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
  
  
• Roch Carrier at Library and Archives Canada
  Library and Archives Canada
  Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...