• About Us
• Academic
• Authors
• Awards
• Books
• Contact
• Upcoming Events
• Meta-Talon
• News
• Ordering
• Sales & Distribution
• Specials
• Submission Guidelines
• View Shopping Cart
•  
• Browse Books by Category
• Drama
• Fiction
• Non-Fiction
• Poetry

Jovette Marchessault

Born in 1938 in Montreal, Quebec, Jovette Marchessault is a novelist, a playwright and a sculptor. Self-taught, her poignant work is marked by the harsh realities of her working-class adolescence. As a visual artist, Jovette Marchessault has had over thirty solo exhibitions of her work in Quebec, Toronto, New York and Brussels. She is the winner of the Prix France-Québec, the Grand Prix Littéraire Journal de Montréal, and the Grand Prix Littéraire de la ville de Sherbrooke, and the Governor General’s Award. Like a Child of the Earth (1988), The Magnificent Voyage of Emily Carr (1992), Mother of the Grass (1989), Saga of the Wet Hens (1983) and White Pebbles in the Dark Forests (1990) are available in English translation from Talonbooks.

BOOK AWARDS

Prix France-Québec Winner, 1976

QUOTES OF NOTE

A worthy trip home for one of Canada’s greatest painters.
— Globe & Mail

QUOTES OF NOTE

“Feminist writing has not outgrown its subversive mandate, but it has achieved a certain grace and maturity. … This is no fairy tale, and the girl-protagonist must find her own way out of life-in-death. She dreams of writing. Mother of the Grass is the realization of this dream. Marchessault must be difficult to translate, but Yvonne Klein succeeds, sometimes beautifully.”
—Canadian Literature

“Has enlarged the dimensions of the autobiographical novel by introducing elements of myth and visionary experience.”
—Gloria Orenstein

QUOTES OF NOTE

The most profound glimpse into a native Canadian woman’s imaginative experience.
— Books in Canada

QUOTES OF NOTE

Potent feminist literture.
— Quill & Quire

[Marchessault’s fiction is lyrical and heartfelt, her drama literary, allusive and absolutely original.
— Books in Canada