Monique Polak (born May 20, 1960) is a writer from

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 ...

, Quebec. She has won the Janet Savage Blachford Prize, formally known as the Quebec Writer's Foundation Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature, three times: ''What World is Left'' (2009), ''Hate Mail'' (2014), and ''Room for One More'' (2020).

Personal life and education

Polak was born May 20, 1960, in

to Maximilien, a criminal court judge, and Celina, a homemaker, Polak. Celina survived the Holocaust, as did her two brothers and both parents. Maximilien survived the Holocaust because he was a painter in Holland and was forced to do propaganda art for the Nazis. Polak also has a sister named Carolyn. She married Chaim Melamed December 16, 1979, and the couple have a daughter named Alicia. They divorced in 1985. She married Michael Shenker, a journalist, on June 2, 1996. Polak received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English literature from

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 ...

in 1981, and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English literature from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. Polak is Jewish.

Career

In 1987, Polak began teaching in English and humanities at Marianopolis College, where she has worked since. She is also a freelance journalist. Her articles appear regularly in ''

The 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 ...

'' and other Postmedia newspapers across the country. Several of her feature stories have also been published in '' Maclean's Magazine''. In 2015, Polak was named the inaugural CBC/QWF Montreal writer-in-residence.

Awards and honours

Publications

Novels

* ''Flip Turn'' (James Lorimer, 2004) * ''No More Pranks'' (Orca, 2004) * ''On the Game'' (James Lorimer, 2005) * ''Home Invasion'' (Orca, 2005) * ''All In'' (James Lorimer, 2006) * ''Finding Elmo'' (Orca, 2007) * ''Scarred'' (James Lorimer, 2007) * ''121 Express'' (Orca, 2008) * ''What World Is Left'' (Orca, 2008) * ''The Middle of Everywhere'' (Orca, 2009) * ''Junkyard Dog'' (Orca, 2009) * ''Miracleville'' (Orca, 2011) * ''Pyro'' (Orca, 2012) * ''So Much It Hurts'' (Orca, 2013) * ''Straight Punch'' (Orca, 2014) * ''Hate Mail'' (Orca, 2014) * ''Learning the Ropes'' (Orca, 2015) * ''Forensics Squad Unleashed'' (Orca, 2016) * ''Leggings Revolt'' (Orca 2016) * ''Bullies Rule'' Orca, 2017) * ''Princess Angelica, Camp Catastrophe'', illustrated by Jane Heinrichs (Orca, 2018) * ''Planet Grief'' (Orca, 2018) * ''Princess Angelica, Part-Time Lion Trainer'', illustrated by Jane Heinrichs (Orca, 2019) * ''The Taste of Rain'' (Orca, 2019) * ''Room for One More'' (Kar-Ben, 2019) * ''Princess Angelica, Junior Reporter'', illustrated by Jane Heinrich (Orca, 2020) * ''For the Record'' (Owlkids, 2022) * ''Open Science: Knowledge For Everyone'' (Orca, 2023)

Nonfiction

* ''Passover: Festival of Freedom'' (Orca, 2016) * ''I Am a Feminist: Claiming the F-Word in Turbulent Times'' (Orca, 2019) * ''Why Humans Work: How Jobs Shape Our Lives and Our World'', illustrated by Suharu Ogawa (Orca, 2022) * ''Passover Family'' (Orca, 2018) * ''The Brass Charm'', illustrated by Marie Lafrance (Scholastic, 2022)

References

External links

Monique Polak
at

Quebec Writers' Federation The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) is a not-for-profit registered charitable organization representing and serving the English-language literary community in the province of Quebec, Canada. QWF is a literary arts presenter, provides professio ...

Literary Database of Quebec English-Language authors
Write On Montreal: Monique Polak
''Montreal Gazette'', Aug. 20, 2013
Mom's fine, Dad's an absolute mess
''Maclean's Magazine'', Sept. 3, 2009

''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', June 22, 2013 * ttp://moniquepolak.com/ Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, Monique Canadian women novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian writers of young adult literature Writers from Montreal Living people 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Women writers of young adult literature 1960 births