A native of southwest France, illustrator Tiphaine Gantheil, traveled to Québec City with designer Timothée Morisse for a co-residency sponsored by the Maison de la littérature and ALCA Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tiphaine and Timothée spent two months at the Maison creating a book titled, Juliette n’est pas normale (Juliette is not normal). The following are excerpts from a recorded interview for the Celebrate Libraries Podcast.
“In Québec I worked with Timothée on this book, which is a book for teenagers. It’s about this girl of 10 or 11 years old, Juliette, who is a little bit different and I think she is looking for a kind of home. She has a home. She is living with her family. But she is looking, I think, for people or a place where she feels like she belongs to this place and to this group of people. And for me this is a big subject in my life, to find a safe place. Like a home for me is really a safe place. Where you can be yourself without judgement. Juliette is a bit different in the way that she, and I don’t like this word, but she is “gifted” or “high potential.” It’s not that she is more intelligent. It’s that her brain is working a bit differently, faster sometimes and slower at other times. She has a feeling of not being connected to these kids (classmates). Probably more connected to animals and nature. She has a high sensitivity to noises and people and she needs to have a quiet space around her.”
“It was a work of…just creation…creating a book…and it was totally free. It was really a pleasant residency.”
Tiphaine Gantheil https://tiphainegantheil.ultra-book.com/
The novel A Knife in the Sky by Haitian-born author Marie-Célie Agnant of Montréal has been issued by Inanna Publications of Toronto. The book is an English translation of Agnant’s Femmes au temps des carnassiers from 2015. Translated by Katia Grubisic, the novel is the result of a residency collaboration between LTAC (Literary Translators’ Association of Canada) and the Maison de la littérature. For more information:
https://www.attlc-ltac.org/en/2021-participants-translation-residency-maison-litterature/ https://www.facebook.com/agnantmariecelie/
Mireille Gagné, Canadienne poet and author of Le lièvre d’amérique (Snowshoe Hare), reflects on public support for French-language literature in the following excerpt from an audio interview with Jon and Robin Voils for the Celebrate Libraries Podcast.
“What is really interesting in Québec City is that there’s a lot of people that are interested by the literature and they go to see show(s), you know? I remember when I participate(d) two years ago at the Nuit de la poésie–Night of Poetry. The place was completely full for like three and four hours. It was like almost 500 people that were listening about poetry. I think that it’s marvelous for a writer. But you know, it’s good to have the door open with the public. It’s not happening all the time, you know? And when you have it you need to cherish it.”
Mireille Gagné https://www.mireillegagne.com/
Award-winning author Christiane Vadnais of Québec City was interviewed for the Celebrate Libraries Podcast. She talks about her novel Fauna and support for literature in Québec. An excerpt of the interview follows.
“I feel we are in a very welcoming place to write. Because of our story as French-speaking people in an English environment, we as a society invested a lot in culture, in artists, and so we have a great support here in Québec and in Canada to write…to create. I feel very lucky.”
Christiane Vadnais https://www.christianevadnais.com/english.html
