Linda Gaboriau ( Johnson)"Decoding the message a translator's challenge". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', January 26, 1991. is a Canadian

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and printed programmes (or helps others with these tasks), consults auth ...

and

literary translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

who has translated some 125 plays and novels by

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 ...

writers, including many of the Quebec plays best known to English-speaking audiences."Just one ad lib can spoil translator's careful work". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', February 9, 1991.

Background

A native of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, she 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 ...

in 1963 to pursue her studies at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

where she obtained a B.A. and M.A. in French language and literature. While a student, she was briefly married to a man whose surname was Gaboriau; although the marriage was short-lived, she kept his surname as her professional pen name. She has worked as a freelance journalist for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 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. ...

(CBC),

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. ...

and the ''

'', pursued a career in

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and Quebec theatre and, in the 2000s, served as the founding director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre.

Work

Her translations have garnered many awards, including three

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

s for

Michel Marc Bouchard Michel Marc Bouchard, (born February 2, 1958) is a Canadian playwright. He has received the Prix Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des critiques de l'Outaouais, the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadi ...

's ''

Lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...

(Les Feluettes)'' in 1992,

Normand Chaurette Normand Chaurette (July 9, 1954 – August 31, 2022) was a Canadian playwright, best known as one of the first prominent writers of LGBT-themed plays in Quebec and Canada. Life and career Chaurette's career began in 1976 with ''Rêve d'une nuit ...

's ''The Queens (Les Reines)'' in 1993 and Bouchard's ''The Orphan Muses (Les Muses orphelines)'' in 1999; the

Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in Toronto theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to prese ...

in 1991 for ''Lilies'' and in 2000 for

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a French-Canadian novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood wit ...

's ''For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (Encore une fois si vous permettez)''; three Governor General's Awards for French to English translation in 1996 for

Daniel Danis Daniel Danis (born 1962 in Hawkesbury, Ontario) is a Canadian playwright. New, W. H., ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada''. University of Toronto Press, 2002. . p. 275. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Award for French-lang ...

's ''Stone and Ashes (Cendres de cailloux)'', in 2010 for

Wajdi Mouawad Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director. He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed play ''Incendies'' (2003). His works often revolve around family t ...

's ''Forests (Forêts)'' and in 2019 for Mouawad's ''Birds of a Kind (Tous des oiseaux)''; and the 2014

Lambda Literary Award for Drama The Lambda Literary Award for Drama is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to an LGBT-related literary or theatrical work. Most nominees are plays, or anthologies of plays; however, non-fiction works on theatre or ...

for Bouchard's ''Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme)''. She was named a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

in 2015.

Personal life

Gaboriau was previously married to Montreal city councillor

Nick Auf der Maur Nick Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998)Downey, Donn. ''Montreal columnist chronicled cancer fight'', A1. ''The Globe and Mail'', April 9, 1998. was a Canadian journalist, politician and "man about town" boulevardier in Montreal ...

, and is the mother of rock musician

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited as the bassist ...

."The woman who would be Ozzy". ''

'', June 29, 2002. She and her late partner of 35 years, author and professor Hervé de Fontenay, have one son, architect Yves de Fontenay.

Works translated

A selected list of Gaboriau's translations includes: * 1983 — ''Saga of the Wet Hens'' (

Jovette Marchessault Jovette Marchessault () (February 9, 1938 – December 31, 2012)

, ''La Saga des poules mouillées'') * 1987 — ''

Being at Home with Claude ''Being at Home with Claude'' is a 1992 Canadian drama film directed by Jean Beaudin and based on the play by René-Daniel Dubois. The film stars Roy Dupuis as Yves, a gay man who has just murdered his lover Claude (Jean-François Pichette), and i ...

'' (

René-Daniel Dubois René-Daniel Dubois, OC (born July 20, 1955, in Montreal) is a Québécois playwright and actor. Biography Movie career He is best known for his 1985 play ''Being at Home with Claude'', which was adapted into an award-winning film in 1992 and th ...

, ''Being at Home with Claude'') * 1989 — ''Warriors'' (Michel Garneau, ''Les guerriers'') * 1991 — ''

'' (

, ''Les feluettes'') * 1992 — ''The Magnificent Voyage of Emily Carr'' (Jovette Marchessault, ''Le voyage magnifique d'Emily Carr'') * 1993 — ''The Eye Is an Eagle'' (

Pierre Morency Pierre Morency, (born 8 May 1942) is a French Canadian writer, poet and playwright. Life Born in Lauzon, Quebec, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Collège de Lévis in 1963 and a teaching diploma from the Université Laval in 196 ...

, ''L'Œil américain'') * 1993 — ''The Orphan Muses'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Les muses orphelines'') * 1996 — ''American Notebooks'' (

Marie-Claire Blais Marie-Claire Blais (5 October 1939 – 30 November 2021) was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Québec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, newspa ...

, ''Notes américaines/Parcours d'un écrivain'') * 1996 — ''Stone and Ashes'' (

, ''Cendres de cailloux'') * 1998 — ''That Woman'' (Daniel Danis, ''Celle-là'') * 1998 — ''The Tale of Teeka'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''L'histoire de l'oie'') * 1998 — ''Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists'' (

, ''Fragments d'une lettre d'adieu lus par des géologues'') * 1998 — ''The Queens'' (Normand Chaurette, ''Les Reines'') * 1998 — ''For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again'' (

, ''Encore une fois, si vous le permettez'') * 1999 — ''The Coronation Voyage'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Le voyage du Couronnement'') * 1999 — ''Song of the Say-Sayer'' (Daniel Danis, ''La chant du Dire-Dire'') * 2000 — ''Down Dangerous Passes Road'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Le chemin des Passes-dangereuses'') * 2000 — ''All the Verdis of Venice'' (Normand Chaurette, ''Je vous écris du Caire'') * 2002 — ''Impromptu on Nuns' Island'' (Michel Tremblay, ''L'État des lieux'') * 2003 — ''Scattered in a Rising Wind'' (

Jean-Marc Dalpé Jean-Marc Dalpé (born February 21, 1957) is a Canadian playwright and poet. He is one of the most important figures in Franco-Ontarian literature. Dalpé studied theatre at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 1973. In 1979, he obtained grad ...

, ''Un vent se lève qui éparpille'') * 2004 — ''Written on Water'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Les manuscrits du déluge'') * 2004 — ''Past Perfect'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Le passé antérieur'') * 2006 — ''Assorted Candies'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Bonbons assortis'') * 2009 — '' Albertine in Five Times'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Albertine, en cinq temps'') * 2010 — ''Forests'' (

, ''Forêts'') * 2011 — '' Scorched'' (Wajdi Mouawad, ''Incendies'') * 2014 — ''Christina, The Girl King'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Christine, la reine-garçon'') * 2015 — ''Tom at the Farm'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Tom à la ferme'') * 2015 — ''The Divine, A Play for Sarah Bernhardt'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''La Divine illusion'') * 2015 — ''Yours Forever, Marie-Lou'' (Michel Tremblay, ''À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou'')

References

External links

Linda Gaboriau fonds (13930)
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:Gaboriau, Linda Living people Writers from Boston Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Quebec Year of birth missing (living people) Anglophone Quebec people Governor General's Award-winning translators French–English translators McGill University alumni 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators Members of the Order of Canada Literary translators American emigrants to Canada Canadian women non-fiction writers Auf der Maur family