Abla Farhoud (1945 – December 1, 2021) was a Lebanese-born Canadian writer who lived in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Life

Farhoud was born in the village of Ain-Hirsché and came with her family to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1951. In her late teens, she became a comedian, performing on

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

television. She returned to Lebanon with her family in 1965. Then, in 1969, Farhoud went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where she studied theatre at the Université de Vincennes à Paris. She returned to Quebec in 1973 and earned a master's degree in theatre from the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

. Her play ''Les filles du 5-10-15¢'' was performed at the in 1992. Her play ''La Possession du Prince'' received the Prix de Théâtre et Liberté from the French Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques. Her writing incorporates Quebec slang "

joual ''Joual'' () is an accepted name for the linguistic features of Quebec French that are associated with the French-speaking working class in Montreal which has become a symbol of national identity for some. ''Joual'' is stigmatized by some and ce ...

", French, colloquial French, colloquial Lebanese-Arabic, English and Arabic. Her son Mathieu Farhoud-Dionne is a member of the hip hop group Loco Locass.

Selected works

Plays

* ''Quand j'étais grande'' (1983), translated into English as ''When I was grown up'' by Jill MacDougall * ''Les Filles du 5-10-15¢'' (1993), translated into English as ''The Girls from the Five and Ten'' by Jill MacDougall * ''La Possession du prince'' (1993) * ''Jeux de patience'' (1994), translated into English as ''Game of Patience'' by Jill MacDougall * ''Quand le vautour danse'' (1997), translated into English as ''Birds of Prey'' by Jill MacDougall * ''Les Rues de l'alligator'' (1998) * ''Maudite machine'' (1999)

Novels

* ''Le bonheur a la queue glissante'' (1998), received the

Prix France-Québec The Prix France-Québec is a Canadian literary award, presented to a Canadian French language writer who has published work in either Canada or France. Administered by Quebec's General Delegation in Paris and the Fédération France-Quebec, the awa ...

* ''Splendide solitude'' (2001) * ''Le fou d'Omar'' (2005) * ''Le Sourire de la Petite Juive'' (2011), translated into English as ''Hutchison Street'' by Judith Weisz Woodworth (2018) * ''Au grand soleil cachez vos filles'' (2017) * ''Le Dernier des snoreaux'' (2019) * ''Havre-Saint-Pierre, pour toujours'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farhoud, Abla 1945 births 2021 deaths Writers from Quebec Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian novelists in French Canadian women novelists Lebanese emigrants to Canada 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French