Gaétan Soucy

Gaétan Soucy (21 October 1958 – 9 July 2013) was a Canadian novelist and professor.

Life

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Soucy studied physics at Université de Montréal, completed a master's degree in philosophy, and studied Japanese language and literature at McGill University.

Soucy wrote four novels. His first two, L'Immaculée conception (translated as The Immaculate Conception by Lazer Lederhendler) and L'Acquittement (translated as Atonement by Sheila Fischman) are extraordinary, dark and baroque works. His third novel, La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (translated as The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches by Fischman) caused a sensation in Quebec and was immediately translated into more than ten languages. His fourth novel, Music-Hall!, was published in 2002, and translated as Vaudeville! by Fischman.

La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes was chosen for inclusion in the French version of Canada Reads, broadcast on Radio-Canada in 2004, where it was defended by actor, film director, screenwriter, and musician Micheline Lanctôt.

He died on 9 July 2013 in Montreal of a heart attack.

Bibliography

• L'Immaculée Conception (1994; published in France in 1998 as 8 décembre). The Immaculate Conception, trans. Lazer Lederhendler (2005)
• L'Acquittement (1997). Atonement, trans. Sheila Fischman (1999)
• La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (1998). The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches, trans. Sheila Fischman (2000)
• Music-Hall ! (2002). Vaudeville!, trans. Sheila Fischman (2003)

Awards and honours

• 1998: Grand prix du livre de Montréal, for L'Acquittement
• 1999: Prix Ringuet, for La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes
• 1999: Prix du grand public du Salon du livre de Montréal - La Presse, for La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes
• 1999: Nominated for the Prix Renaudot, for La Petite Fille qui aimait trop les allumettes
• 2003: Prix des libraires du Québec, for Music-Hall !
• 2003: Prix Jean-Hamelin (prix France-Québec), for Music-Hall !
• 2003: Prix Nessim-Habif, for his body of work
• 2004: Médaille de l'Assemblée nationale
• 2006: Shortlisted for the Giller Prize, for The Immaculate Conception

External links

• Soucy, Gaétan at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Critical bibliography database (Auteurs.contemporain.info) Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine (in French)