Cécile Gagnon (born January 7, 1936) is a Canadian writer and illustrator living 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 ...

. Born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, she received a bachelor's degree in literature from the Université Laval. She went on to study graphic arts at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

and the

École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ÉnsAD, also known as Arts Decos', École des Arts Décoratifs) is a public grande école of art and design of PSL Research University. The school is located in the Rue d'Ulm in Paris. Profil ...

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 ...

, and art education at

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène S ...

. She then pursued Italian studies at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

and the Scuola di Lingua e Cultura in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. From 1971 to 1973, she was responsible for the ''Safari'' magazine for children at ''

Montréal-Matin ''Montréal-Matin'' ("Montreal-Morning") was a Quebec daily newspaper based in Montreal. It was published from 1930 to 1978. It was politically associated to the Conservative Party of Quebec and, afterwards, its successor the Union Nationale. It ...

''. From 1977 to 1979, she was editor in chief of the "Cahiers Passe-partout" at the Quebec Ministry of Education. She contributed to various publications, including ''Lurelu'', '' Cahiers de la femme'', ''Municipalité'' and the ''

IBBY The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

Newsletter''; from 1986 to 1988, she was editor in chief for ''Coulicou''. Gagnon has been a finalist several times for the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit. In 2012, she received the Prix Raymond-Plante for her body of work. At the publisher , she established and directed the "Brindille" collection and directed the "Libellule" collection. She was a founding member of and served as its president from 1977 to 1979. In 1997, the (ACELF) created the , named in her honour.

Selected works

* ''La pêche à l'horizon'' (1961), received the Prix du Grand Jury des Lettres * ''Ô Canada!'' (1964), received the Prix du Mérite de la Foire internationale du livre de

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

* ''Martine-aux-oiseaux'' (1964), received the Prix de la Province de Québec * ''Alfred dans le métro'' (1980), received the Prix de l'ACELF * ''Ascenseur d'Adrien'' (1986), received the Prix ACELF Raymond-Beauchemin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gagnon, Cecile 1936 births Living people Canadian children's writers in French Canadian children's book illustrators Writers from Quebec City Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Sir George Williams University alumni Canadian women children's writers