Pierre DesRuisseaux (7 July 1945 – 18 January 2016) was a Canadian poet. He was named the fourth

Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate (french: Poète officiel du Parlement du Canada) is the national poet laureate of Canada. The current poet laureate is Louise Bernice Halfe. The position is an office of the Library of Parliament. Role A ...

on April 28, 2009. DesRuisseaux graduated with a degree in philosophy from 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- ...

. DesRuisseaux previously won the

Governor General's Award for French language poetry This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for French-language poetry. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for French language poetry or drama was divided. Winners and nominees 1980s 1990s 2000s ...

in 1989 for his collection ''Monème''. He was also nominated for the

Governor General's Award for English to French translation This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for English-to-French translation awarded by the Governor-General of Canada. Winners and nominees 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s References {{Governor General's Literar ...

in 1996 for ''Contre-taille'', an anthology of translated poetry by English Canadian writers. DesRuisseaux was born in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

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 ...

. "His career-long fascination with Canada's literary traditions and history make him an excellent choice to engage us, as Canadians, in dialogue about the importance of verse in our national culture,"

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the Senate of Canada

Noel Kinsella Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places * Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, Britis ...

said about DesRuisseaux. DesRuisseaux wrote the ''Livre des proverbes québécois'' and ''Dictionnaire des expressions québécoises'', chosen by the Quebec Association for Intercultural Education as a work representative of Quebec's popular culture. On 18 January 2016, he died at the age of 70. In 2017, it was revealed that in his volume of French language poetry, ''Tranches De Vie,'' DesRuisseaux had plagiarized a number of English language authors, including Maya Angelou, Dylan Thomas, Louis MacNeice,

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

Ted Kooser Theodore J. Kooser (born 25 April 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2005. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006. Kooser was one of the first poets laureate selec ...

, and

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

. For some critics, the notion of plagiarism appears doubtful in this case.Kevin Lambert, "Pierre DesRuisseaux, plagiaire!", Liberté. Art & Politique, 319 (March 2018), 73; Thierry Bissonnette and Lucien Pelletier, "Pierre DesRuisseaux: la paille et la poutre", Spirale. Arts, lettres & sciences humaines, 263 (Winter 2018), 6-9.

References

External links

Pierre DesRuisseaux at the Parliament of Canada website
1945 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Governor General's Award-winning poets Canadian Parliamentary Poets Laureate Writers from Sherbrooke 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian poets in French 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers {{Canada-poet-stub