Gaston Miron (French IPA: [gas'tõ mi'ʀõ]) (January 8, 1928 – December 14, 1996) was an important poet, writer, and editor of the Quebec post Quiet Revolution. His masterpiece, L'homme rapaillé (partly translated as The March to Love: Selected Poems of Gaston Miron, whose title echoes Miron's most celebrated poem La marche à l'amour) has sold over 100 000 copies, in Quebec and overseas, insuring Miron as one of the mostly read author of Quebec literature [1]. His commitment for a sovereign Quebec, both politically and through his writings, associated with his popularity, placed Miron as a central figure of the Quebec nationalist movement. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words see here. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... In printmaking, an edition is a set of prints off one plate, composing a limited run of prints. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Quiet Revolution (Révolution tranquille) was the 1960s period of rapid change in Quebec, Canada. ... For other uses, see Masterpiece (disambiguation). ... This is an article about Literature in Quebec, a province of Canada. ... Quebec The Quebec sovereignty movement is a movement calling for the attainment of sovereignty for Quebec, a province of the country of Canada. ... Quebec nationalism is the subject of many international studies together with the contemporary nationalism of Scotland, Catalonia and other non-sovereign regions of the world. ...

Life

Gaston Miron was born in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, in a country region (Laurentides) 100 kilometers north of Montreal. He moved in Montreal in 1947, at a time when Maurice Duplessis was reigning as Quebec premier. In 1953, with Olivier Marchand, Miron published his first work, Deux Sangs at Éditions de l'Hexagone, a publishing house they co-founded. Miron would become the main editor for this publishing house, the first entirely dedicated to Quebec poetry. The editorial line of l'Hexagone was to establish a "national literature" and put an end to the "poet's alineation" in the society of the time [2]. The publications of the new publishing house, which rapidly signed young and innovative poets like Jean-Guy Pilon and Fernand Ouellette, announced a modern and creative poetry that were sustaining and prolonguing the earlier efforts of Alain Grandbois, Paul-Marie Lapointe and Roland Giguère, all of whom would later joined the new publishing house. Duplessis campaigning in the 1952 election. ... Jean-Guy Pilon (born November 12, 1930) is a Quebec poet. ... Alain Grandbois (May 25, 1900 - March 18, 1975) was a Quebecois poet born in Saint-Casimir, Quebec. ...

Parallel to his editing work, Miron publishes several poems, notably his most renowned La Marche à l'amour, in various journals and newspapers, including Le Devoir, Liberté and Parti pris. Perhaps as importantly, he animates several artistic and political circles in cafés around "le carré St-Louis" where he lived. His flamboyant style and articulated speeches made him a popular figure in a then revitalizing Plateau Mont-Royal. This animation is soon followed by various texts, many of which on the status of the French language and on the Quebec political position. These texts, despite not being published at the time, would nevertheless have an important diffusion thanks to Miron's importance in the animation of Montreal intellectual nights, and would contribute to the boiling giving birth to the Quiet Revolution. Miron's relative underground efforts (he did not publish a book since 1953) would be exposed to the public light by an important conference given by Jacques Brault, in 1966, at Université de Montréal, which began by: "Qui parmi nous ne connaît pas Gaston Miron?" (Who among us does not know Gaston Miron?)[3]. In the late 1960s, Miron stars in several "nights of poetry" that attracted a wide audience and contributed to place him as a leading voice of Quebec poetry. In 1969, he becomes the father of his lone child, Emmanuelle. Le Devoir on the 2003 Quebec election. ... The Plateau or Plateau Mont-Royal is a neighbourhood of the city of Montreal, just north of downtown and east of Mount Royal. ... The Quiet Revolution (Révolution tranquille) was the 1960s period of rapid change in Quebec, Canada. ...

Pressure started to weigh on Miron for him to recollect his fragmented works and publish it under a same cover, and in 1970, despite Miron's feeling that his work was not yet qualified enough for publication, Miron gave in and published L'homme rapaillé. The book, which alternates between poems expressing lyrically a vivid vision of love and those embodying the alienated situation of the French-speaking Quebecois, was an instant success and soon attracted many honors. The book was characterized by an highly lyrical style and drew as much in Quebecois orality as in formal vocabulary.

Shortly after the publication of his book, Miron is arrested and put in jail without trial during the events of the October Crisis. This arrest solidified his commitment to politics and support for the Quebec sovereignty. In 1975, he published his Courtepointes, which would later be integrated in L'homme rapaillé. Military cordon in support of police taking surrender of terrorist Liberation cell, December 3, 1970 The October Crisis was a series of dramatic events triggered by two terrorist kidnappings by members of the Front de libération du Québec in the province of Quebec, Canada, in October 1970, which...

In December 1996, in Montreal, Miron died. He became the first Quebec author to receive a state funeral [4].

Works

• Deux sangs (co-authored by Gaston MIRON and Olivier MARCHAND), Montréal, Éditions de l’Hexagone, 1953.
• L’homme rapaillé, Montréal, Presses de l’Université de Montréal (for the first edition), 1970.
• Courtepointes, Ottawa, Éditions de l’Université d’Ottawa, 1975.
• Poèmes épars, edition of texts from 1947 à 1995, under the direction of Marie-Andrée BEAUDET and Pierre NEPVEU, Montréal, Éditions de l’Hexagone, 2003.
• Un long chemin (d’autres proses), texts in prose, under the direction of Marie-Andrée BEAUDET and Pierre NEPVEU, Montréal, Éditions de l’Hexagone, 2004.
• À bout portant (correspondance 1954-1965), letter exchanges between Gaston MIRON and Claude HAEFFELY, Éditions Lemeac, 1989.

Honors

• 1970 - Prix Québec-Paris, L'Homme rapaillé
• 1971 - Grand Prix littéraire de la Ville de Montréal
• 1972 - Prix Littéraire Canada-Communauté Française de Belgique
• 1977 - Prix Ludger-Duvernay
• 1981 - Prix Guillaume-Apollinaire
• 1983 - Prix Athanase-David
• 1985 - Prix Molson
• 1988 - Prix Fleury-Mesplet
• 1990 - Médaille de l'Académie des lettres du Québec
• 1991 - Médaille de l'Académie des lettres du Québec
• 1991 - Ordre des francophones d'Amérique
• 1996 - Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec

1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Prix Athanase-David is a literary award presented annually by the government of Quebec to a Quebec writer, to honour the body of his or her work. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The National Order of Quebec (in French Ordre national du Québec) is an order of merit bestowed by the government of Quebec, Canada. ...

Works on Gaston Miron

• Jacques BRAULT, « Miron le magnifique », dans Chemin faisant, Montréal, Boréal, coll. « papiers collés », 1994 [1975], p. 23-55.

• Claude FILTEAU, L’espace poétique de Gaston Miron, préface de Jerusa Pires Ferreira, Limoges, Presses Universitaires de Limoges, coll. « Francophonie », 2005, 310 p.

• Yannick GASQUY-RESCH, Gaston Miron, le Forcené magnifique, Éditions Hurtubise, 2003.

• Pierre NEPVEU, Les mots à l’écoute, Québec, Les Presses de l’Université Laval / Éditions Nota bene, 1979 / 2002.