Blais, Marie-Claire (Vol. 22) - Introduction

Marie-Claire Blais 1939–

French-Canadian novelist and poet.

A Season in the Life of Emmanuel is generally considered Blais's best work. In it she explores with compassion and delicacy the life of an impoverished French-Canadian family. Her imagery is powerful and compelling, and her prose, even in the description of the misery and horror inherent in the lives of her characters, has a lyrical quality. Blais won the Governor General's Literary Award twice: in 1968 for Manuscrits de Pauline Archange and in 1979 for Le Sourd dans la ville.

(See also CLC, Vols. 2, 4, 6, 13, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 21-24, rev. ed.)