François Blais (writer)

François Blais was born in 1973 in the small town of Grand-Mère in the Mauricie region of Quebec. He grew up in a house with a library filled with titles like Tintin, Bob Morane, and books from the Countess of Ségur.[1]

He published his first novel, Iphigénie en Haute-Ville at the age of 32 in 2006, which quickly became a finalist for several literary prizes, namely the Prix des libraires du Québec, the Prix France-Québec and the Prix Senghor de la création littéraire. Although he had until then worked primarily as a translator, Blais published a book almost every year, and beginning in 2016, had alternated between adult and children's books all while being employed as a night custodian for a shopping centre in Trois-Rivières.[2]

Blais was also particularly stingy with biographical details in the rare interviews he did grant.[3] His work was first translated in 2018, when his novel Document 1 appeared in English under the same title.[4]

He lived in Quebec City and, in 2016, moved to a farm in the village of Charette in the county of Maskinongé in Quebec to live with his sister.[5][2] Blais died there on May 14, 2022, at the age of 49.[6]

On December 16, 2022, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services issued a warning about his novel The Boy with Upside-Down Feet, claiming that the book could incite young readers to suicide.[7] There was a swift and negative public reaction to the warning from the media and the literary and medical communities.[8][9][10]

Blais' novels contain autobiographical elements, which are often rooted in his hometown of Grand-Mère in Quebec. Since his works are initially characterized by quirky and scathing humour, he never resorted to autofiction.[3]

His sixth novel, La classe de Madame Valérie, which traces the life of a group of 11-year-old classmates at Laflèche school in Grand-Mère, Quebec, was published in 2013, and received praise from many,[11] and in particular from veteran Quebec journalist Pierre Foglia.[12]

Un livre sur Mélanie Cabay, inspired by the 1994 disappearance and death of a young woman was published in 2018.[13][14][15] In 2020, his novel Lac Adélard, won the Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature at the 2020 Governor General's Awards.[1]

His 2012 novel Document 1 was published in English in 2018 by Book*hug in a translation by JC Sutcliffe, under the same title. It was the first of his works to be translated in another language.

• Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature, laureate in 2020 for Lac Adélard, illustrated by Iris Boudreau (La courte échelle)
• Prix jeunesse des libraires du Québec, laureate 2021 in the 12–17 years old category for Lac Adélard, illustrated by Iris Boudreau
• Prix jeunesse des libraires, co-laureate in 2019 in the 6–11 years old category with Valérie Boivin for Le livre où la poule meurt à la fin (Les 400 coups)
• Prix des libraires, finalist in 2014 for his novel La classe de madame Valérie (L’instant même)
• Prix de création littéraire de la Bibliothèque de Québec-Salon international du livre de Québec, laureate in 2013 for his novel Document 1[16]
• Prix des libraires, finalist in 2013 for his novel Document 1 (L’instant même)
• Prix des libraires, finalist in 2007 for his novel Iphigénie en Haute-Ville (L’instant même)