Marie José Thériault (born March 21, 1945) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

writer, performer and translator.

Early years

The daughter of

Yves Thériault Yves Thériault OC (November 27, 1915 – October 20, 1983) was a Canadian author. He was born in Quebec City to Alcide and Aurore (Nadeau) Thériault. On April 21, 1942, he married Germaine Blanchet, with whom he had two children, Marie-José ...

and Michelle (Germaine) Blanchet, she was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. She had an interest in learning other languages from a young age, learning to speak Italian at the age of eight. She also studied ballet with Madame Ludmilla Chiriaeff. During stays in Europe with her family, she pursued further studies of languages and various forms of dance. In 1963, she began a career as a

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

dancer. In 1968, she also began singing professionally, going on to perform on radio and television and also producing a number of recordings.

Writing career

During the 1970s, Thériault began contributing to publications such as ''Lettres québécoises'' and ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

''. She worked as an editor for various magazines including ''XYZ'', ''Vice & Versa'' and ''Liberté''. She also worked as a translator and as a literary commentator on radio. In 1987, she founded the publishing house Les Éditions Sans Nom, which mainly produces

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

s. Her poetry collection ''Invariance'', published in 1980, received the Canada-Switzerland Literary Prize. Her novel ''Les Demoiselles de Numidie'' (1984) was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for French-language fiction. In 1993, she received 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 ...

for her translation ''L'Oeuvre du Gallois'' (''Wales' Work'' by Robert Walshe) in 1993 and for ''Arracher les montagnes'' (''Digging the Mountains'' by

Neil Bissoondath Neil Devindra Bissoondath (born 19 April 1955, in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago) is a Trinidadian-Canadian author who lives in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. He is a noted writer of fiction. He is an outspoken critic of Canada's system of multicultura ...

) in 1997. In 1996, she received the Prix Les Mots d'or, awarded by the APFA (Action pour promouvoir le français des affaires), for her translation of ''Clicking'' by Faith Popcorn.

Family life

She is the sister of Michel Thériault, an internationally renowned authority on

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

References

External links

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Fonds Marie José Thériault (R8065)
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:Theriault, Marie Jose 1945 births Living people Canadian novelists in French Canadian poets in French Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian translators 20th-century Canadian women writers Poets from Montreal Governor General's Award–winning translators Canadian women non-fiction writers Novelists from Montreal