Linda Gaboriau ( Johnson)"Decoding the message a translator's challenge". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', January 26, 1991. is a Canadian

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

and

literary translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

who has translated some 125 plays and novels by

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

writers, including many of the Quebec plays best known to English-speaking audiences."Just one ad lib can spoil translator's careful work". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', February 9, 1991.

Background

A native of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, she moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1963 to pursue her studies at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

where she obtained a B.A. and M.A. in French language and literature. While a student, she was briefly married to a man whose surname was Gaboriau; although the marriage was short-lived, she kept his surname as her professional pen name. She has worked as a freelance journalist for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

(CBC), Radio Canada and the ''

'', pursued a career in

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

and Quebec theatre and, in the 2000s, served as the founding director of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre.

Work

Her translations have garnered many awards, including three

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

s for

Michel Marc Bouchard Michel Marc Bouchard, (born February 2, 1958) is a Canadian playwright. He has received the Prix Journal de Montreal, Prix du Cercle des critiques de l'Outaouais, the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian ...

's ''

Lilies ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...

(Les Feluettes)'' in 1992,

Normand Chaurette Normand Chaurette (July 9, 1954 – August 31, 2022) was a Canadian playwright, best known as one of the first prominent writers of LGBT-themed plays in Quebec and Canada. Life and career Chaurette's career began in 1976 with ''Rêve d'une nu ...

's ''The Queens (Les Reines)'' in 1993 and Bouchard's ''The Orphan Muses (Les Muses orphelines)'' in 1999; the

Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in Toronto theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences o ...

in 1991 for ''Lilies'' and in 2000 for

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a Canadian writer, novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood ...

's ''For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again (Encore une fois si vous permettez)''; three Governor General's Awards for French to English translation in 1996 for

Daniel Danis Daniel Danis (born 1962 in Hawkesbury, Ontario) is a Canadian playwright. New, W. H., ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada''. University of Toronto Press, 2002. . p. 275. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General's Award for French-lan ...

's ''Stone and Ashes (Cendres de cailloux)'', in 2010 for

Wajdi Mouawad Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (; born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director. He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed play ''Incendies'' (2003). His works often revolve around famil ...

's ''Forests (Forêts)'' and in 2019 for Mouawad's ''Birds of a Kind (Tous des oiseaux)''; and the 2014

Lambda Literary Award for Drama The Lambda Literary Award for Drama is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation to an LGBTQ-related literary or theatrical work. Most nominees are plays, or anthologies of plays; however, non-fiction works on theatre ...

for Bouchard's ''Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme)''. She was named a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2015 and Officer of the

Ordre National du Québec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (National ...

in 2023.

Personal life

Gaboriau was previously married to Montreal city councillor

Nick Auf der Maur Nikolaus Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998)Downey, Donn. ''Montreal columnist chronicled cancer fight'', A1. ''The Globe and Mail'', April 9, 1998. was a Canadian journalist and politician from Montreal, Quebec. He was the fa ...

, and is the mother of rock musician

Melissa Auf der Maur Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur (; born March 17, 1972) is a Canadian musician. Auf der Maur began performing in 1993 after forming the indie rock band Tinker (band), Tinker while she was a student at Concordia University. She was recruited ...

."The woman who would be Ozzy". ''

'', June 29, 2002. She and her late partner of 35 years, author and professor Hervé de Fontenay, have one son, architect Yves de Fontenay.

Works translated

A selected list of Gaboriau's translations includes: * 1983 — ''Saga of the Wet Hens'' (

Jovette Marchessault Jovette Marchessault () (February 9, 1938 – December 31, 2012)

, ''La Saga des poules mouillées'') * 1987 — ''

Being at Home with Claude ''Being at Home with Claude'' is a 1992 Canadian drama film directed by Jean Beaudin and based on the play by René-Daniel Dubois. The film stars Roy Dupuis as Yves, a gay man who has just murdered his lover Claude ( Jean-François Pichette), an ...

'' (

René-Daniel Dubois René-Daniel Dubois, OC (born July 20, 1955, in Montreal) is a Québécois playwright and actor. Biography Movie career He is best known for his 1985 play '' Being at Home with Claude'', which was adapted into an award-winning film in 1992 and t ...

, ''Being at Home with Claude'') * 1989 — ''Warriors'' (Michel Garneau, ''Les guerriers'') * 1991 — ''

'' (

, ''Les feluettes'') * 1992 — ''The Magnificent Voyage of Emily Carr'' (Jovette Marchessault, ''Le voyage magnifique d'Emily Carr'') * 1993 — ''The Eye Is an Eagle'' ( Pierre Morency, ''L'Œil américain'') * 1993 — ''The Orphan Muses'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Les muses orphelines'') * 1996 — ''American Notebooks'' (

Marie-Claire Blais Marie-Claire Blais (5 October 1939 – 30 November 2021) was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Quebec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, newspa ...

, ''Notes américaines/Parcours d'un écrivain'') * 1996 — ''Stone and Ashes'' (

, ''Cendres de cailloux'') * 1998 — ''That Woman'' (Daniel Danis, ''Celle-là'') * 1998 — ''The Tale of Teeka'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''L'histoire de l'oie'') * 1998 — ''Fragments of a Farewell Letter Read by Geologists'' (

, ''Fragments d'une lettre d'adieu lus par des géologues'') * 1998 — ''The Queens'' (Normand Chaurette, ''Les Reines'') * 1998 — ''For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again'' (

, ''Encore une fois, si vous le permettez'') * 1999 — ''The Coronation Voyage'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Le voyage du Couronnement'') * 1999 — ''Song of the Say-Sayer'' (Daniel Danis, ''La chant du Dire-Dire'') * 2000 — ''Down Dangerous Passes Road'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Le chemin des Passes-dangereuses'') * 2000 — ''All the Verdis of Venice'' (Normand Chaurette, ''Je vous écris du Caire'') * 2002 — ''Impromptu on Nuns' Island'' (Michel Tremblay, ''L'État des lieux'') * 2003 — ''Scattered in a Rising Wind'' (

Jean-Marc Dalpé Jean-Marc Dalpé (born February 21, 1957) is a Canadian playwright and poet. He is one of the most important figures in Franco-Ontarian literature. Dalpé studied theatre at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 1973. In 1979, he obtained grad ...

, ''Un vent se lève qui éparpille'') * 2004 — ''Written on Water'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Les manuscrits du déluge'') * 2004 — ''Past Perfect'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Le passé antérieur'') * 2005 — '' Scorched'' (Wajdi Mouawad, ''Incendies'') * 2006 — ''Assorted Candies'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Bonbons assortis'') * 2009 — ''

Albertine in Five Times ''Albertine in Five Times'' () is a play by Michel Tremblay."Poem-like Albertine is soporific in execution". ''The Globe and Mail'', April 10, 1985. First produced by the National Arts Centre in 1984,Wajdi Mouawad Wajdi Mouawad, OC, (; born 1968) is a Lebanese-Canadian writer, actor, and director. He is known in Canadian and French theatre for politically engaged works such as the acclaimed play ''Incendies'' (2003). His works often revolve around famil ...

, ''Forêts'') * 2013 — ''Heavens'' (Wajdi Mouawad, ''Ciels'') * 2014 — ''Christina, The Girl King'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Christine, la reine-garçon'') * 2015 — ''Tom at the Farm'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Tom à la ferme'') * 2015 — ''The Divine, A Play for Sarah Bernhardt'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''La Divine illusion'') * 2015 — ''Yours Forever, Marie-Lou'' (Michel Tremblay, ''À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou'') * 2017 — ''Anima'' (Wajdi Mouawad, ''Anima'') * 2019 — ''Birds of a Kind'' (Wajdi Mouawad, ''Tous des oiseaux'') * 2019 — ''Rite of Passage'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Le Passage obligé'') * 2022 — ''Kisses Deep'' (Michel Marc Bouchard, ''Embrasse'') * 2022 — ''Twists of Fate'' (Michel Tremblay, ''Au hasard la chance'' et ''Les cléfs du Paradise'')

References

External links

Linda Gaboriau fonds (13930)
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaboriau, Linda Living people Writers from Boston Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Writers from Quebec Year of birth missing (living people) Anglophone Quebec people Governor General's Award–winning translators French–English translators McGill University alumni 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators Members of the Order of Canada Literary translators American emigrants to Canada Canadian women non-fiction writers Auf der Maur family