It was during the inauguration evening of the 47e edition of the Montreal Book Fair that the winner was revealed, with the luminous presence of Janette Bertrand.
It is with joy that the Janette-Bertrand prize was awarded to Marie-Hélène Larochelle for her book Toronto never bluepublished by Leméac. Surrounded by finalists Léa Clermont-Dion, Martine Delvaux, Claudia Larochelle and Élise Turcotte, as well as Janette Bertrand and Pauline Marois, the winner shone brightly, as did her acolytes, clearly happy to be together to celebrate this moment.
About Toronto never blueKareen Guillaume, of Librairie Bertrand, said this: “Hannah, Carole, Mama’, Jordan, Bridget and Dakota: you don’t know them yet, but you will never forget them again. In Toronto, these women live on the streets or in extreme precariousness. It is their brutal reality that Marie-Hélène Larochelle describes with a scalpel in this novel as merciless as it is impossible to put down. Her heroines go through the worst, but the author manages to never take away the essential from them: their fierce independence and their deep identity, in a life that would like to dehumanize them, disembodiment them, condemn them. Erase them. The writer recounts the unbearable, without an ounce of sweetening, but with a confusing sensitivity. And here she signs a book that is as direct as it is masterful. »
The jury, chaired by former Prime Minister Pauline Marois, was made up of host and columnist Vanessa Destiné, literature student Jeanne Boivin, editor and librarian Vanessa Allnutt and bookseller Philippe Fortin.
The Janette-Bertrand prize, with a $5,000 grant, is an initiative of the Montreal Book Fair in collaboration with SODEC and Télé-Québec. In addition to honoring the immense legacy of the almost centennial, the prize highlights literary works that aim to promote gender equality, women’s autonomy and support the fight against violence committed in the name of gender diversity.
Photo by Marie-Hélène Larochelle: © Helen Tansey
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