Germaine Guèvremont, born GrignonFrench Canadian Writers: Germaine Guèvremont
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Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

Centre for Language and Literature. (April 16, 1893 – August 21, 1968) was a Canadian writer, who was a prominent figure in

Quebec literature This is an article about literature in Quebec. 16th and 17th centuries During this period, the society of New France was being built with great difficulty. The French merchants contracted to transport colonists did not respect their end of t ...

. Born in 1893 in

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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 ...

, she was educated in Quebec and

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, and worked as a journalist for women's magazines before marrying Hyacinthe "Hy" Guèvremont and moving with him to Sorel in 1916. She was a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

for a number of years, but later returned to journalism as a writer for ''

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'' and an editor for ''Le Courrier de Sorel''. The Guèvremonts later moved 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 ...

, where Germaine worked as a court stenographer during the

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. She also began to publish

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

, which were compiled into her debut book, ''En pleine terre'', in 1938. She published the novel ''Le Survenant'' in 1945, followed by the sequel ''Marie-Didace'' in 1947. ''The Outlander'', an English translation of her two novels in one volume, was published in 1950, and won the fiction prize in the

1950 Governor General's Awards In Canada, the 1950 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the fourteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors. Winners *Fiction: Germaine Guèvremont, ''The Outlander ''. *Po ...

. The book was also published in the United Kingdom under the title ''Monk's Reach''. William H. New, ''The Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada''. . She did not publish any further novels, but continued to publish journalism and short stories as well as writing radio and television adaptations of her fiction works. She began to write her

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late in life, but completed only two chapters before her death in 1968. She was the cousin of

Claude-Henri Grignon Claude-Henri Grignon, OC, FRSC (July 8, 1894 – April 3, 1976)Claude-Henri Grig ...

, the author of ''Un Homme et son péché''. Ironically, Guèvremont's novels are largely recognized as the last influential examples of '' romans du terroir'', the traditionalist form of Quebec literature in the early 20th century, while Grignon's ''Un Homme'' broke with that tradition and is recognized as one of Quebec's first influential modernist novels.Claude-Henri Grignon
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Works

* ''En pleine terre'' (1942/1946) * ''Le Survenant'' (1945) * ''Marie-Didace'' (1947) * ''The Outlander'' (1950; English translation of both ''Le Survenant'' and ''Marie-Didace'' in one volume)

Awards and honours

In addition to her Governor General's Award win, ''Le Survenant'' won the

Prix David Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who a ...

from the government of Quebec and the Prix Sully-Olivier de Serres from the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. She was a member of the

Académie des lettres du Québec The Académie des lettres du Québec is a national academy for Quebec writers. It was founded as the Académie canadienne-française in 1944 by Victor Barbeau and a group of writers. In 1992 it changed its name to the Académie des lettres du Qué ...

, and was honored on a

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in 1976. ''Le Survenant'' was chosen for the 2010 edition of

Première Chaîne A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

's ''

Le Combat des livres ''Le Combat des livres'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the ''Canada Reads'' competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from ...

''.

References

External links

* * Archives of Germaine Guèvremon
(Fonds Germaine Guèvremont, R12045)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guevremont, Germaine 1893 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian novelists in French Canadian radio writers Canadian short story writers in French Canadian television writers Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women short story writers Canadian women television writers Journalists from Quebec People from Saint-Jérôme Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Women radio writers Writers from Quebec