Noël, Francine

Francine Noël, novelist and playwright (b at Montréal, 1945). After studying humanities at the Université de Montréal where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1968, and a master's degree in 1970 with a thesis on Charles Perrault, she studied at the Université de Paris VIII (Vincennes) where she wrote her doctoral dissertation entitled Du sujet noyé: L'innommable de Samuel Beckett (1972). A professor in the theatre department at the Université du Québec à Montréal since 1969, Francine Noël published her first novel, Maryse, in 1983. It chronicles the years from 1968 to 1975, describes a generation of young Montrealers whose dreams of social emancipation clash with reality and often result in dissolution, and tells the story of Maryse struggling with first love. Critics praised the novel for its realistic writing, attention to detail, and humour. In 1987, Myriam première appeared - a novel made up of a sort of social fresco that includes several characters living at Plateau Mont-Royal in the early 1980s, and takes into account a certain ideological dissolution characteristic of the period, while remaining firmly committed to a feminist attitude. Babel prise deux ou Nous avons tous découvert l'Amérique then appeared in 1990, followed in 1999 by, La conjuration des bâtards. As a playwright, Francine Noël published Chandeleur: Cantate parlée pour cinq voix et un mort (1985), and La femme de ma vie ( Leméac, 2005).

Author FRANCOIS ROCHON