Victor-Lévy Beaulieu (born September 2, 1945 in

Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix () is a municipality (Quebec), municipality in Quebec, Canada, in the regional county municipality of Rivière-du-Loup Regional County Municipality and the administrative region of Bas-Saint-Laurent. See also * List of mu ...

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 ...

) is a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

writer, playwright and editor. Born in Saint-Paul-de-la-Croix, in the area of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint-Lawrence), is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlanti ...

, Victor-Lévy Beaulieu began primary school at

Trois-Pistoles Trois-Pistoles is a city in Les Basques Regional County Municipality in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada. It is also the county seat. The town is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River. A ferry crosses the river t ...

, moving later to

Montréal-Nord Montreal North (french: Montréal-Nord) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montréal-Nord on Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. It was amalgamated into t ...

. He began his public writing career at the Montreal weekly ''Perspectives'', where he served as chronicler for a decade (1966–1976). In 1967, he became a copy writer at '' La Presse'', ''Petit Journal'', ''Digest Éclair'', and finally at ''Maintenant'' in 1970. In 1967 he won the Larousse-Hachette Prize thanks to an eighteen-page essay devoted to

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

. In 1968, he spent a year in Paris, and on his return became a scriptwriter at the Montreal radio station

CKLM CKLM was a French-language Canadian radio station located in Laval, Quebec (near Montreal). It operated from 1962 to 1994. The station broadcast on 1570 kHz with a power of 50,000 watts full-time as a class B station, using a directional a ...

while resuming his position of chronicler. Also in 1968, he published his first novel ''Mémoires d'outre-tonneau''. This would be the first of a long run: ''Race de monde'' (1969) — ''La nuite de Malcomm Hudd'' (1969) — ''Jos Connaissant'' (1970) — ''Les Grands Pères'' (1971) — ''Un rêve québécois'' (1972) — ''Oh Miami Miami Miami'' (1973) — ''Don Quichotte de la démanche'' (1974). Beaulieu served as a teacher of literature at the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants aw ...

from 1972 to 1978, and also wrote for the

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. ...

broadcasts "Documents", "Petit théâtre", "Roman", "La Feuillaison". His recent book, ''

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

, l'Irlande et le Québec'', has been praised by critics. In 2008 he threatened to burn copies of his entire body of work as a protest against the growth of bilingualism in Quebec and various statements by PQ leader

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ� ...

in support of English classes for francophone schoolchildren. The writer created a stir after describing Canadian

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

as a "negro queen" in

L'Aut'Journal ''L'aut'journal'' () is a French language newspaper distributed in Quebec freely and through subscription. It was founded in 1984 by political scientist and journalist Pierre Dubuc, and as of 2004 has a circulation of 35,000 copies. It advocates ...

magazine. Beaulieu said Ms. Jean was appointed to the post because she was "black, young, pretty, ambitious, and because of her husband, certainly a nationalist as well." In an interview with La Presse, the author defended his text, saying he had not intended to be racist. However, his eight references to the ''"reine negre"'' caught the attention of

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

Leader

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and ...

and Bloc MP

Vivian Barbot Vivian Barbot (born July 7, 1941) is a Canadian teacher, activist, and politician. She is a former president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, a former Member of Parliament and former vice-president of the Bloc Québécois. She was the ...

. Ms. Barbot told '' La Presse'' she found the text insulting and discriminatory, as well as a personal attack on Ms. Jean's character. Mr. Beaulieu wrote of the "small, black queen of

" and her visit to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where she spoke about

Canadian federalism Canadian federalism () involves the current nature and historical development of the federal system in Canada. Canada is a federation with eleven components: the national Government of Canada and ten provincial governments. All eleven go ...

, but also saluted France for its abolition of slavery in 1847. Mr. Beaulieu noted Ms. Jean, a native of

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, came from a country that long suffered the effects of

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. He also attacked writer

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

for the unsympathetic portrayal of

French Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

in his novels.https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=538835

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Victor-Levy 1945 births Writers from Quebec Canadian non-fiction writers in French Living people Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French Prix Athanase-David winners Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Quebec sovereigntists People from Bas-Saint-Laurent Rhinoceros Party of Canada candidates in the 1979 Canadian federal election Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Independent candidates in Quebec provincial elections 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male non-fiction writers