Arlette Cousture, (born April 3, 1948) is a

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 ...

writer. She writes historical fiction, often depicting the lives of women in Quebec.Mary Jean Matthews Green.
Women and Narrative Identity: Rewriting the Quebec National Text
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 2001. . p. 124–.
Between Woman and Nation: Nationalisms, Transnational Feminisms, and the State
'. Duke University Press; 1999. . p. 56–. Many of her novels have become best-sellers in the French language.
Quebec
'. Scholastic Library Publishing; October 1992. . p. 93.

Early life

Cousture was born in Saint-Lambert,

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, ...

, Canada. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from collège Sainte-Marie.Arlette Cousture
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

Career

As a young woman, Cousture worked at Radio-Canada television. She later worked in radio and as a journalist. She worked in communications at Hydro Quebec. In the 1980s Cousture wrote a pair of best-selling novels, ''Les filles de Caleb'', about the life of a young teacher in rural Quebec.Reingard M. Nischik.
History of Literature in Canada: English-Canadian and French-Canadian
'. Camden House; 2008. . p. 446–.W.H. New.
A History of Canadian Literature
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 6 August 2003. . p. 344–. The stories later became the basis of a television series
Sharing the Blessings
'. Médiaspaul; 1996. . p. 111–.David L. Pike.
Canadian Cinema Since the 1980s: At the Heart of the World
'. University of Toronto Press; 6 December 2012. . p. 162–. and were translated into English.John Robert Colombo.
Fascinating Canada: A Book of Questions and Answers
'. Dundurn; 27 May 2011. . p. 138–. Cousture later wrote more stories about the novels' heroine, Emilie. In the 1990s Cousture wrote a two-volume story, ''Ces Enfants d'ailleurs'', about a Polish family's move to Canada during World War II.

Awards and honours

In 1998, she was made an Officer 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 2012, she was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec 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 (Natio ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cousture, Arlette 1948 births Living people Screenwriters from Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian screenwriters in French Canadian women screenwriters Knights of the National Order of Quebec People from Saint-Lambert, Quebec