Naomi Fontaine is a

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 ...

writer from

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 ...

, noted as one of the most prominent

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

writers in contemporary francophone Canadian literature. She is a member of the Innu nation.

Biography

A member of the Innu nation from Uashat,

, she studied education at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montm ...

."Naomi Fontaine revient aux sources avec Manikanetish"
. '' Les malins'', September 23, 2017. Her 2011 debut novel ''Kuessipan'' received an honourable mention from the

Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie The Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie (literally "Prize of the five continents of the francophonie") is a literary prize created in 2001 by the Organisation internationale de la francophonie. Winners References

{{La Francop ...

in 2012. ''Kuessipan'' is an meditative novel about life in the wilds of northeastern Quebec. Fontaine wrote this novel in French at the age of twenty-three. She depicts a community of Innu, nomadic hunters and fishers, and of hard-working mothers and their children, enduring a harsh, sometimes cruel reality with quiet dignity. Pervading the book is a palpable sense of place and time played out as a series of moments. Elders who watch their kin grow up before their eyes; couples engaged in domestic crises, and young people undone by alcohol; caribou-skin drums that bring residents to their feet; and lives spent along a bay that reflects the beauty of the earth and the universal truth that life is a fleeting puzzle whose pieces must be put together before it can be fully lived. Her second novel, ''Manikanetish'', was published in 2017, and was a shortlisted finalist for the

Governor General's Award for French-language fiction The Governor General's Award for French-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in French. It is one of fourteen Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, seven each ...

at the

2018 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2018 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 3, 2018,Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

's'' Canadian issue. ''Manikanetish'' was selected for the 2019 edition of '' Le Combat des livres'', where it was defended by surgeon Stanley Vollant."5 combattants dans le ring du Combat national des livres"

Ici Radio-Canada ICI or Ici may refer to: Companies and organisations * ICI Homes, builder, Florida. US * Former UK Imperial Chemical Industries ** ICI Australia, later Orica * Independent Curators International, New York City, US * Indian Concrete Institute * I ...

, April 8, 2019. Her novel ''Kuessipan'' was adapted by Myriam Verreault into the 2019 theatrical feature film '' Kuessipan''."Tournage du film Kuessipan : montrer la force des jeunes Innus"

, December 9, 2017. Verreault and Fontaine received a

Prix Iris The Prix Iris is a Canadian film award, presented annually by Québec Cinéma, which recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in Quebec.Best Screenplay at the 22nd Quebec Cinema Awards for the film.

Works

* ''Kuessipan.'' Mémoire d'encrier, 2011 ** transl. David Homel: ''Kuessipan.'' Arsenal Pulp Press 2013 * ''Manikanetish.'' Mémoire d'encrier, 2013 * transl. David Homel: ''Tshinanu.''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

#141, special: ''Canada'' september 2017, pp. 279–285 (from the French) ** transl. Sonja Finck: ''Tshinanu.'' In Jennifer Dummer ed.: ''Pareil, mais différent - Genauso, nur anders. Frankokanadische Erzählungen.'' Bilingue. dtv, Munich 2020, pp 92–109 * Avec Olivier Dezutter, Jean-François Létourneau éd.: ''Tracer un chemin: Meshkanatsheu.'' Hannenorak, 2017 * ''Shuni.'' Mémoire d'encrier, 2019 (winner of the "Prix littéraire des collégiens", 2020)

References

External links

* * *
Extrait de "Manikanetish"
pp 1 – 9 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontaine, Naomi 1987 births Living people 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women novelists Canadian novelists in French First Nations novelists First Nations women writers Innu people Writers from Quebec People from Côte-Nord Université Laval alumni 21st-century First Nations writers