Roch Carrier

Carrier in 2006
Carrier in 2006
Born (1937-05-13) 13 May 1937
Sainte-Justine, Quebec, Canada
LanguageFrench
Notable worksThe Hockey Sweater
Notable awardsOrder of Canada

Roch Carrier OC FRSC (born 13 May 1937) is a French Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story). He is among the best known Quebec writers in English Canada.[1]

Life

He was born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec, and studied at Collège St-Louis in New Brunswick, the Université de Montréal in Quebec, and at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France, where he received a doctorate in literature.

From 1994 to 1997, he served as head of the Canada Council. In 1998, he ran as an electoral candidate for the Quebec Liberal Party under Jean Charest, in the riding of Crémazie. He was defeated by 309 votes.

In 1991, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. From 1999 to 2004, Carrier was National Librarian of Canada. With Ian E. Wilson, the then National Archivist, he developed the process to unify the National Archive and National Library.

In 1992, Carrier's Prayers of a Very Wise Child (Prières d'un enfant très très sage) won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.

Carrier championed Jacques Poulin's novel Volkswagen Blues in Canada Reads 2005.

Also involved in theatre (having served as playwright at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde), Carrier has adapted La guerre, yes sir! and Floralie, où es-tu? for the stage. La guerre, yes sir! was produced as a play in 1970, was performed in English at the Stratford festival, and has been made into a film. Floralie, où es-tu? was performed by Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde in 1974. The trilogy consisting of these two novels and Il est par là, le soleil sold better in English than in French.[1]

A quote from "Le chandail de hockey" ("The Hockey Sweater"), one of Carrier's contes, was reprinted on the back of the Canadian five-dollar bill. The story, about when Carrier was a young boy who orders a Montreal Canadiens sweater from the Eaton's catalogue, but receives a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey instead, is considered by many to be a literary allegory for the linguistic and cultural tensions between English and French Canadians, and is thus considered essential reading for anybody who seeks to understand the complex realities of linguistic and cultural identity in Canada. But it is also a much-beloved children's story in anglophone Canada without such complex overtones as it may have in a broader context. The National Film Board of Canada has made this story into an animated short film, narrated by Carrier in both the French and English versions.[2]

Heartbreaks Along The Road (De l'amour dans la ferraille) is a work of magical realism - he pokes fun at political and religious figures, using ridiculous scenarios, and exaggerated personality characteristics, while telling the story from different characters' points of view. There are many levels to his satire and his writing is flowery and descriptive.

Sheila Fischman has won various awards for translation of his books into English.

Two schools are named after Roch Carrier: Roch Carrier French Immersion Public School in Woodstock, Ontario, and Roch Carrier Elementary School in Kanata, Ontario.

Roch Carrier was president on the board of directors for the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada, or SEVEC from 2008 to 2009. Upon his retirement from the board he was made an Honorary Member of the Society.

Selected works

Roch Carrier as a young boy
  • Jolis deuils: Petites tragédies pour adults 1964
  • La guerre, yes sir! 1968 (translated as La Guerre, Yes Sir! 1970) ISBN 0-88784-626-2
  • Floralie, où es-tu ? 1969 (translated as Floralie, Where Are You? 1971)
  • Il est par là, le soleil 1970 (translated as Is It the Sun, Philibert? 1972)
  • Le deux-millième étage 1973 (translated as They Won't Demolish Me! 1974)
  • Le jardin des délices 1975 (translated as The Garden of Delights 1978)
  • Il n'y a pas de pays sans grand-père 1977 (translated as No Country Without Grandfathers 1981)
  • Les Enfants du bonhomme dans la lune 1979 (translated as The Hockey Sweater and other stories 1979)
  • Les voyageurs de l'arc-en-ciel 1980 illustration & book design by François Olivier
  • Céleste bicyclette 1980 (translated as The Celestial Bicycle)
  • La dame qui avait des chaînes aux chevilles 1981 (translated as Lady with Chains)
  • Le cirque noir 1982
  • Ne faites pas mal à l'avenir 1984
  • De l'amour dans la ferraille 1984 (translated as Heartbreaks Along The Road)
  • La fleur et autres personages 1985
  • Un chameau en Jordanie 1988
  • Enfants de la planète 1989
  • L'homme dans le placard 1991 (translated as The Man in the Closet)
  • Le cannot dans les nuages 1991
  • Prières d'un enfant très très sage 1991 (translated as Prayers of a Very Wise Child)
  • Fin 1994 (translated as The End)
  • Petit homme tornade 1996 (translated as The Lament of Charlie Longsong)
  • Prières d'un adolescent très très sage 1998 (translated as Prayers of a Young Man)
  • Une chaise 1999
  • Les moines dans la tour 2004
  • Ma vie avec Maurice Richard (My life with Maurice Richard)
  • Montcalm et Wolfe 2014 (translated as Montcalm and Wolfe by Donald Winkler)

See also


References

  1. 1 2 Philip Stratford, ed. Stories from Québec, Van Nostrand Reinhold Ltd, 1974. ISBN 0-442-29910-9
  2. Play films - Focus on Animation - ONF Archived 2007-05-17 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

  • Manfred Overmann: "Le chandail de Hockey." Didactisation du conte de Roch Carrier et du court métrage animé par Sheldon Cohen, Zeitschrift für Romanische Sprachen und ihre Didaktik, 11.2, ibidem, Stuttgart 2017 ISBN 9783838211718 ISSN 1863-1622 pp 106 – 136 (in French)
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