Gérald Leblanc
Categories: Male Authors - Francophone Authors - Poets - Novelists - Acadian Coast
Source: Author
Biography
“I was born in Bouctouche, and my father and mother were the first Acadians I ever met. I learned to party around the kitchen table, watching relatives drink and dance. The taste for writing came early to me, out of a desire to “tell stories.” Cartoons were a stronger influence than elementary school, and rock’n’roll was a stronger influence than high school…Since then, I learned to draw nourishment where I needed it, from a variety of sources: cities; books [Denis Vanier, Patrick Staram le Bison ravi, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Adrienne Rich and Kate Millett]; music [The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Nina Simone, Pink Floyd, Léo Ferré, The Clash and Joni Mitchell]; friends [Laurent, Herménégilde, Cécile, the “1755” gang and so many others…]; all this and more, wrapped in a love that helps me pass through the apocalyptic landscape of planet Earth.
Gérald Leblanc was born in Bouctouche on September 25, 1945, and died on May 11, 2005, in Moncton.”
[Translation from Gallant, Melvin and Ginette Gould. Portraits d’écrivains : dictionnaire des écrivains acadiens. Moncton : Éditions Perce-Neige/Éditions d’Acadie, 1982.]
How has New Brunswick influenced your work?
Michel Giroux: Gérald Leblanc, why did you choose text as your medium?
Gérald Leblanc: People tell me that I’m a good poet! That’s always a pleasure to hear. I also tell myself that it's because I can’t do anything else. . . I think I have always been fascinated with writing, but what set me on that path was reading the works of Guy Arsenault and Raymond Leblanc. Guy, because he wrote more than half of his work in Chiac; Raymond because of a few of his poems, including “Je suis Acadien.”
Source: "Sur L’écriture : rencontre avec deux poètes acadiens." Studies in Canadian Literature/Études en littérature canadienne 17.2 (1992). http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/scl/article/view/8170/9227
[Translation]
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Literary Prizes |
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| Pascal Poirier Award for Excellence in French Language Literary Arts, New Brunswick Arts Board - 1993 | |
| Prix de poésie Terrasses Saint-Sulpice de la revue Estuaire - 1993 | In recognition of: Complaintes du continent : 1988-1992 |
| Literary Award, City of Moncton - 1990 | In recognition of: L’extrême frontière : poèmes 1972-1988 |
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Featured Publication |
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L’extrême frontière (1988) |
Excerpt: Acadielove |
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