news | Wednesday November 14, 2012

Michel Tremblay Receives Medal of Honor

Yesterday, Michel Tremblay received the Medal of Honor of the National Assembly of province of Quebec in Canada.

Tremblay’s work is widely recognized for helping to break down barriers in Quebec society, as his plays written in Joual (French dialect spoken among the working class in Montreal) disclosed the lives and language of the ordinary people of Quebec, revealing them as a fitting subject for high art. Another barrier Tremblay helped to break down was that of sexuality, as Tremblay has been openly gay since the beginning of his career and many protagonists in his plays and novels are gay.

Of course, it is undoubtedly Tremblay’s subtle yet deeply affecting charm (which is to say style!) as a writer that has earned him the acclaim of being a “Québécois Marcel Proust.”