Suzanne Jacob
Encyclopedia
Suzanne Jacob is a Canadian novelist, poet
, playwright
, singer-songwriter
, and critic
.
Born in the town of Amos
, in the Abitibi
region of Québec
, she studied classics at the Collège Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Nicolet
, and also attended classes at the "Atelier de theatre" and the "École de musique".
After moving to Montreal
, she attended the University of Montreal where she studied literature and art history. During this time she appeared in two performances of the experimental theatre group, Les Apprentis-Sorciers, a theatrical group that opened up the doors of Montréal to modernist and experimental performance. She taught French between 1966 and 1974. It was at this time that she began to write and perform monologues, poems and songs. In 1970, she won the Prix du Patriote for singer-songwriter of the year. That same year she participated in the Spa festival in Belgium.
Her first novel, Flore Cocon, was published in 1978. It was also in this year that, with Paul Paré and Patricia Gariépy, she founded the publishing house Le Biocreux. Jacob was the literary director of this publishing house for several years. Suzanne Jacob contributed to a number of literary reviews, including Liberté and La Gazette des femmes. She also recorded two albums, Suzanne Jacob (1979) and Une humaine ambulante (1980).
Her abundant and diverse output has resulted in novels, essays, short stories, poems, commentary, performance pieces, plays, and installations. Of her work she has said, that from the beginning she has continually tried to use fiction as a way of creating discrepancies, breaks, and uncertainty in the monolithic set of beliefs that surround us, and that without these discrepancies nothing would shake the rigidity of fundamentalism. In 1992 and 1993 she was writer in residence at the University of Montréal.
She has lectured in Québec, the United States
, Europe
and South America
. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters of Quebec. She received the Governor General’s Award and the Prix Paris-Quebec for her novel Laura Laur (1983). She also received the Governor General’s Award for La Part de Feu (1997), which was also awarded the First Prize for Poetry by the Société Radio Canada.
In 2000, Jacob collaborated with Charles Binamé
on the film script for La Beauté de Pandore. In 2002 and 2003 she acted in the television dramas Trop jeune pour être père and "Footsteps". In 2007 Suzanne Jacob received the Félix-Antoine-Savard poetry prize for the group of poems entitled "Ils ont été nombreux à répondre", which appeared in issue #125 of the literary review Estuaire.
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...
, 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...
, singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, and critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
.
Born in the town of Amos
Amos, Quebec
Amos is a ville in northwestern Quebec, Canada, on the Harricana River. It is the seat of Abitibi Regional County Municipality.Amos is the main city on the Harricana River, and the smallest of the three primary cities — after Rouyn-Noranda and Val-d'Or — in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec...
, in the Abitibi
Abitibi
Abitibi may refer to:* Abitibi Canyon, Ontario, community adjacent to the Abitibi Canyon Generating Station* Abitibi Canyon Generating Station, Canadian hydroelectric power plant* Abitibi-Témiscamingue , a region of Quebec...
region of Québec
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....
, she studied classics at the Collège Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in Nicolet
Nicolet, Quebec
Nicolet, Quebec is the county seat of Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,827...
, and also attended classes at the "Atelier de theatre" and the "École de musique".
After moving to 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...
, she attended the University of Montreal where she studied literature and art history. During this time she appeared in two performances of the experimental theatre group, Les Apprentis-Sorciers, a theatrical group that opened up the doors of Montréal to modernist and experimental performance. She taught French between 1966 and 1974. It was at this time that she began to write and perform monologues, poems and songs. In 1970, she won the Prix du Patriote for singer-songwriter of the year. That same year she participated in the Spa festival in Belgium.
Her first novel, Flore Cocon, was published in 1978. It was also in this year that, with Paul Paré and Patricia Gariépy, she founded the publishing house Le Biocreux. Jacob was the literary director of this publishing house for several years. Suzanne Jacob contributed to a number of literary reviews, including Liberté and La Gazette des femmes. She also recorded two albums, Suzanne Jacob (1979) and Une humaine ambulante (1980).
Her abundant and diverse output has resulted in novels, essays, short stories, poems, commentary, performance pieces, plays, and installations. Of her work she has said, that from the beginning she has continually tried to use fiction as a way of creating discrepancies, breaks, and uncertainty in the monolithic set of beliefs that surround us, and that without these discrepancies nothing would shake the rigidity of fundamentalism. In 1992 and 1993 she was writer in residence at the University of Montréal.
She has lectured in Québec, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. She is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters of Quebec. She received the Governor General’s Award and the Prix Paris-Quebec for her novel Laura Laur (1983). She also received the Governor General’s Award for La Part de Feu (1997), which was also awarded the First Prize for Poetry by the Société Radio Canada.
In 2000, Jacob collaborated with Charles Binamé
Charles Binamé
Charles Binamé is a Quebec director. He was born in Belgium and came to Montreal with his family at a young age. In 1971, he began work as an assistant director with the National Film Board of Canada. During the 1980s, he directed commercials in England...
on the film script for La Beauté de Pandore. In 2002 and 2003 she acted in the television dramas Trop jeune pour être père and "Footsteps". In 2007 Suzanne Jacob received the Félix-Antoine-Savard poetry prize for the group of poems entitled "Ils ont été nombreux à répondre", which appeared in issue #125 of the literary review Estuaire.
Novels
- Flore Cocon (1978)
- Laura Laur (1983 - Governor General's Award and Prix Paris-Québec)
- La Passion selon Galatée (1987)
- L'Obéissance (1991)
- Rouge, mère et fils (2001)
- Wells (2003)
- Fugueuses (2005)
- Fugueuses translated into English by Thomas Allen Publishers - Fugitives (2008)
Short stories
- "La Survie (1979; translated by Susanna Finnell as "Life, After All", 1989
- "Maude" (1988; translated by Luise von Flotow as "Maude", 1997)
- "Les Aventures de Pomme Douly" (1988)
- "Plages du Maine" (1989; translated by Susanna Finnell as "A Beach in Maine", 1993)
- "Parlez-moi d'amour" (1998)
Poetry
- Poèmes I - Gémellaires (1980)
- Les Écrits de l'eau (1996)
- La Part de feu (1997 – Governor General's Award and Premier prix de poésie de la Société Radio-Canada)
- Ils ont été nombreux à répondre, #125, la revue Estuaire (2007)
Essays
- La Bulle d'encre (1997 - Prix de la revue Études françaises)
- Comment pourquoi (2002)
External references
- Suzanne Jacob's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Quebec Council of Arts and Letters (Biography)
- Library Archives of Canada (Biography)
- List of available works (Boréal Publishers)
- Quebec Academy of Letters (Biography)
- Critical bibliography (Auteurs.contemporain.info)
- International Festival of Poetry: Poet Suzanne Jacob Awarded the 2007 Félix-Antoine-Savard Poetry Prize