Gérald Leblanc (September 25, 1945 – May 30, 2005) was an

Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...

n poet notable for seeking his own Acadian roots and the current voices of Acadian culture. Leblanc was born in Bouctouche,

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. He studied at the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

and lived in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

, where he died in 2005. He also spent a good part of his life in

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, which he loved. Deeply Acadian and North American, Gérald Leblanc tirelessly sought the roots of his Acadian identity. The quality and abundance of his poetic work guarantee him a place amongst the most important authors of modern Acadian poetry. He was also the author, along with

Claude Beausoleil Claude Beausoleil (16 November 1948 – 24 July 2020) was a Canadian writer, poet, and essayist. Biography Beausoleil studied literature at the Université du Québec à Montréal and earned a master's degree with a thesis on Hubert Aquin. He the ...

, of an anthology of Acadian poetry. He was the lyricist for the Acadian musical group '' 1755'' and wrote many of the group's classic songs ("Le monde a bien changé", "Boire ma bouteille", "Rue Dufferin", "Kouchibouguac"). He was an unabashed champion of " chiac", which is the slang spoken mainly in south eastern New Brunswick and mixes English and French words and syntax. As a poet and speaker, he was invited to various countries:

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(

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, Halifax,etc.), the

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( New York and

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(

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, and

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(

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), the

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(

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(

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), the

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(

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(

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), and

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( Delémont).

Works

Leblanc's texts (written in French) have been translated into English, Spanish,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Chinese,

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

and Slovak.

Letters

*''Lettres à mon ami américain 1967-2003: édition annotée préparée par Benoit Doyon-Gosselin'', Sudbury, Éditions Prise de parole, 2018 (postmortem)

Poetry

*''Poèmes new-yorkais suivi de Lettres new-yorkaises'', poems 1972-1988, letters 1993-1994, Sudbury, Éditions Prise de parole, 2021 (postmortem) *''L’extrême frontière, poèmes 1972-1988'', Sudbury, Éditions Prise de parole, 2015 (postmortem) *''Éloge du chiac'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 2015 (postmortem) *''Complaintes du continent'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 2014 (postmortem) *''Poèmes new-yorkais (1992-1998)'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 2006 (postmortem) *''Techgnose'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 2004 *''Géomancie'', Ottawa, Éditions l’Interligne, 2003 *''Le plus clair du temps'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 2001 *''Je n’en connais pas la fin'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 1999 *''Méditations sur le désir'', ''artist's book'', with Guy Duguay, Moncton, limited edition, hand printed on paper crafted by and with lithographs by Guy Duguay, 1996 *''Éloge du chiac'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 1995 *''Complaintes du continent'', Moncton/Trois-Rivières, Éditions Perce-Neige/Écrits des forges, 1993 *''De la rue, la mémoire, la musique'', Montreal, Lèvres urbaines n. 24, 1993 *''L'événement Rimbaud'', with Herménégilde Chiasson and Claude Beausoleil, Moncton/Trois-Rivières, Éditions Perce-Neige/Écrits des forges, 1991 *''Les matins habitables'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 1991 *''L’extrême frontière'', Moncton, Éditions d’Acadie, 1988 *''Lieux transitoires'', Moncton, Michel Henry Éditeur, 1986 *''Précis d’intensité'', with Herménégilde Chiasson, Montreal, Lèvres urbaines n. 12, 1985 *''Géographie de la nuit rouge'', Moncton, Éditions d’Acadie, 1984 *''Comme un otage du quotidien'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 1981

Novels

*''Moncton Mantra'', preface by Herménégilde Chiasson, Sudbury, Éditions Prise de parole, 0122008 (postmortem) *''Moncton Mantra'', English translation by Jo-Anne Elder, Toronto, Guernica, 2001 *''Moncton Mantra'', Moncton, Éditions Perce-Neige, 1997

Translation

*''Amazon Angel'', Original ''Ange amazone'' by Yolande Villemaire, 1982, English translation by Gérald Leblanc, 1993

Essays

*''La poésie acadienne'', with Claude Beausoleil (selection and introduction), Moncton/Trois-Rivières, Éditions Perce-Neige/Écrits des Forges, 1999 *''La poésie acadienne 1948-1988'', with Claude Beausoleil (selection and introduction), Trois-Rivières/Paris, Écrits des Forges/Le Castor Astral, 1988

Theatre

*''Et moi!'', text for the Département d’art dramatique of the Université de Moncton, with three other Acadian authors: Gracia Couturier, France Daigle and Herménégilde Chiasson, 1999 *''Les sentiers de l’espoir'', text for the Théâtre l’Escaouette, 1983 *''Sus la job avec Alyre'', text for the actor Bernard LeBlanc, 1982

Radio

*''L’été saison des retours'', 30 minute text for the FM Network of Radio-Canada, 1989 *''Pascal Poirier'', one hour text for the FM Network of Radio-Canada, 1982

Publications

*''Éloizes'' (Moncton) *''Pleins feux'' (Moncton) *''Le Journal'' (Moncton) *''Vallium'' (Moncton) *''Ven’d’est'' (Petit Rocher) *''Lèvres urbaines'' (Montréal) *''Le Devoir'' (Montréal) *''Estuaire'' (Montréal) *''Le Sabord'' (

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

) *''Liberté'' (Montréal) *''Ellipse'' (

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 ...

) *''Liaison'' (

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) *''Parallélogramme'' (

) *''Intervention à haute voix'' (France) *''Cahier bleu'' (France) *''Jungle'' (France) *''Europe'' (France) *''Mensuel 25'' (

) *''Textual'' (

) *etc.

Literary Awards

*Literary Award from the City of Moncton, for ''L’extrême frontière'', during the City Centennial Celebrations, 1990 *Pascal-Poirier Award, from the New Brunswick government for his complete works, 1993 *Terrasses St-Sulpice Award, from the Estuaire magazine, for ''Complaintes du continent'', 1994

Documentary about Gérald Leblanc

''Living on the Edge, the Poetic Works of Gérald Leblanc'' also known by its

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

title ''L'extrême frontière, l'oeuvre poétique de Gérald Leblanc'') is a 2005

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

director of

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

origin Rodrigue Jean. In this documentary, Rodrigue Jean pays tribute to his Acadian roots, focusing on the poetry of Gérald Leblanc.

External links

Fonds Gérald Leblanc (R11764)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leblanc, Gerald 1945 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian songwriters 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian male songwriters Canadian male poets Acadian writers Canadian poets in French People from Bouctouche Writers from Moncton 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian novelists in French Canadian non-fiction writers in French Poets from New Brunswick Novelists from New Brunswick