Éva Senécal (/evɑ senekal/; born April 20, 1905, in
La Patrie, Quebec; died March 14, 1988, in
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
), was a
Québécois poet and novelist who worked for the Sherbrooke newspaper, ''
La Tribune
() is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH.
From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...
''.
Early life and education
Senécal had a solitary childhood and attended school at the École normale de Saint Hyacinthe in La Patrie. She contracted
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
in her late teens and her long convalescence afforded time for extensive reading and developing her poetry.
Career
Senécal published her first volume of poetry, ''Un peu d'angoisse, un peu de fièvre'', in 1927. The editor Alfred DesRochers became a supporter of her work, and her success as a poet led to being hired to write for the Sherbrooke newspaper ''
La Tribune
() is a French weekly financial newspaper founded in 1985 by Bruno Bertez. Its main competitor is the French newspaper '' Les Échos'', which is currently owned by LVMH.
From 1993 to 2007, was part of LVMH. In 2010, Alain Weill, the chair ...
'' from 1930 to 1936 (she later returned to the paper in the mid-1960s).
Senécal's novel ''Dans les ombres'' generated some controversy when journalist Jules Larivière (''Mon magazine'') denounced it as having immoral content, but the critical reception was generally warm and the book won the Prix Albert-Lévesque in 1931.
Her second novel, ''Mon Jacques'', was published in 1933. Senécal worked as an editor in Montreal in the 1930s, gradually losing interest in writing. Her fragile health remained a barrier in her career.
An anthology of Senécal's writing was published in 1987.
Legacy
The city of
Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
's first
public library
A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
was named for her at the time of its foundation in December 1990.
Works
*1927, ''Un peu d'angoisse… Un peu de fièvre'', Montréal, La Patrie.
*1929, ''La course dans l'aurore'', préface de Louis Philippe Robidoux, Sherbrooke, La Tribune.
*1931, ''Dans les ombres'', Montréal, Albert Lévesque. (Coll. "Romans de la jeune génération")
*1933, ''Mon Jacques'', Montréal, Albert Lévesque.
Prizes
*1929 – Poetry prize awarded by l'Action catholique de la jeunesse canadienne (A.C.J.C.), for ''La Course dans l'aurore''
*1929 – First prize for originality at the Salon des poètes de Lyon, for "Vent du Nord," a poem from ''La Course dans l'aurore''.
*1931 – Prix Albert-Lévesque, for ''Dans les ombres''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senecal, Eva
1905 births
Poets from Quebec
1988 deaths
Canadian women poets
Canadian women novelists
Canadian women journalists
Canadian women non-fiction writers
Novelists from Quebec