Chantal Ringuet (born in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

) is a Canadian scholar, award-winning author and translator.

Biography

After completing a Ph.D. in literary studies (2007, UQÀM, Honourable Mention), Ringuet has been a postdoctoral Fellow in Canadian studies at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

(2007-8) and earned a master's degree in International Management at l' ÉNAP (2009). Since 2014, she has been a Fellow at

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

, the Institute for Jewish Studies in New York, scholar-in-residence at the

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , p ...

in Boston and translator-in-residence at the Banff Center for the Arts and Creativity, research associate at

Concordia University Concordia University (French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the th ...

's Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies (Montreal) and lecturer at the Institut européen Emmanuel Lévinas ( AIU) in Paris. In Winter 2019, she was writer-in-residence (visiting scholar) at the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. She is the first writer to stay in the Gröndalshause Literature City Residence in Reykjavik

UNESCO City of Literature UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network. The ''Network'' was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields. The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gas ...

(October 2019). Her research and creative writing stands at the intersection of literature and visual arts, Jewish studies and translation studies. Focusing on the preservation and transmission of the collective memory and the Jewish heritage worldwide, Ringuet acts as a "cultural translator" of the diverse forms of Jewish civilization and identity. She has contributed to many art exhibition catalogues and translated literary works focusing on the cultural hybridity pervading contemporary artistic practices, and on the intergenerational transmission of trauma in the aftermath of the Second World War and the Holocaust. She translates from Yiddish and English to French. Her first poetry book, ''Le sang des ruines'' (Écrits des Hautes-terres, Gatineau, 2010) focuses on two narrative voices of Holocaust survivors; it was awarded the prix littéraire Jacques-Poirier in 2009. Her second collection of poetry, ''Under the Skin of War'' (BuschekBooks, Ottawa, 2014) (written both in French and English), was inspired by the British photojournalist

Don McCullin Sir Donald McCullin (born 9 October 1935) is a British photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the underside of society, and h ...

. Ringuet is also the author of ''À la découverte du Montréal yiddish'' ( Éditions Fides, 2011) and she edited the first anthology of Canadian Yiddish literature in French translation, ''Voix yiddish de Montréal'' (Moebius, no 139, Montreal, 2013). With Gérard Rabinovitch, she has published ''Les révolutions de Leonard Cohen'' (PUQ, 2016), which received a 2017 Canadian Jewish Literary Award. With Pierre Anctil, she has published a translation of the early biography of Marc Chagall (''Mon univers. Autobiographie'', Fides, 2017), launched for the opening of the international exhibition ''Chagall : Colour and Music'' at the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Squ ...

, the biggest Canadian exhibition devoted to Marc Chagall. According to Simone Grossman, professor at the Department of French language and culture at Bar-Ilan University, her poetry illustrates the power of "affiliative postmemory" (Marianne Hirsch) through the relation between image and text. She has participated in many cultural and academic events, including at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate '' grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. Th ...

(EHESS) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; and was guest lecturer at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

, the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3, the Toronto Jewish Literary Festival,

KlezKanada KlezKanada () is a Canadian organization for the promotion of klezmer music and Yiddish culture. Its principal program is a week-long Jewish music Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of relig ...

, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the

Blue Metropolis Blue Metropolis (also known as Blue Met) is an international literary festival held annually in Montreal since 1999. Founded by Montreal writer Linda Leith, it is one of the world's first multilingual literary festival. In early 2011, Leith depar ...

and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Bibliography

Books

*''Forêt en chambre'', Montréal, Éditions du Noroît, 2022. Avec des photographies de Marc-André Foisy. * ''Alys Robi a été formidable'', Montréal, Québec Amérique, 2021. * ''Leonard Cohen'', "Chanteurs poètes", Paris, Plon, collection Fidelio rchive 2021. * ''Duetto

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

'', Paris, Nouvelles lectures, 2019. *''

'' (John Zeppetelli, Victor Shiffman, Sylvie Simmons, Chantal Ringuet), exhibition catalogue, Montreal, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, 2018. *''Un pays où la terre se fragmente. Carnets de Jérusalem'', Montréal, Linda Leith Éditions, 2017. * ''Les révolutions de

'' (co-edited with

Gérard Rabinovitch Gérard Rabinovitch (born 1948, Paris) is a French philosopher and sociologist. He is a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), member of the Center for Research on Sense, Ethics, Society and of the Center for Resear ...

), Québec, Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2016. *', poetry (Inspired by the photographs of

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vil ...

McCullin),

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, BuschekBooks, 2014. *''Voix yiddish de Montréal'', anthology, Montreal, Moebius, no 139. Preface from Lazer Lederhendler, 2013. *''À la découverte du Montréal yiddish'', essay, Montreal, Fides. Preface from Sherry Simon, 2011. *''Le sang des ruines'', poetry,

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

, Écrits des hautes terres, coll. ''Cimes,'' 2010. * (co-edited with Daniel Chartier and Véronique Pepin), ''Littérature, immigration et imaginaire au Québec et en Amérique du Nord'',

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in ...

, coll. «Études transnationales, francophones et comparées», 2006.

Translations

* ''Portrait d'un scandale. Le procès d'avortement de Robert Notman,'' translation of Elaine Kalman Naves (''Portrait of a Scandal. The Abortion Trail of Robert Notman''), Montréal, Fides, 2017. * ''Shoshanna. Mère et fille dans les ténèbres de l'histoire,'' translation of Elaine Kalman Naves (''Shoshanna's Story. A Mother, a Daughter and the Shadows of History''), Montréal, Alias (Groupe Nota Bene), 2017. * ''Mon univers. Autobiographie,'' translation (with

Pierre Anctil Pierre Anctil is a Canadian historian. He is specialist of the Jewish community of Montreal, of Yiddish literature and of the poetic work of Jacob-Isaac Segal. He also published on the history of immigration to Canada. He translated a dozen Yidd ...

) from Yiddish to French of

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernist, he was associated with several major ...

's Autobiography, Montreal, Fides, 2017. * ''Les échos de la mémoire. Une enfance palestinienne à Jérusalem,'' translation of

Issa J. Boullata Issa J. Boullata (‎; February 25, 1929 – May 1, 2019) was a Palestinian scholar, writer, and translator of Arabic literature. Biography He was born in Jerusalem on February 25, 1929 during the British Mandate of Palestine. He obtain ...

(''The Bells of Memory. A Palestinian Boyhood in Jerusalem''), Montréal, Mémoire d'encrier, 2015. * ''Momento''. ''Morceaux de vie'', translation of

George S. Zimbel George S. Zimbel (July 15, 1929 – January 9, 2023) was an American-Canadian documentary photographer. He worked professionally from the late 1940s, mainly as a freelancer. He was part of the Photo League and was one of its last surviving member ...

, (''Momento. A Book of Moments''), London,

Black Dog Publishing Black Dog Publishing was a British publishing company specialising in illustrated non-fiction books on contemporary culture. Topics covered by Black Dog include architecture, art, craft, design, environment, fashion, film, music and photogra ...

, 2015. * ''Forme et lumière. Le musée

Aga Khan Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Kari ...

'', translation of (''Pattern and Light. The Aga Khan Museum''), New York, Skira Rizzoli Publications, Inc., 2014. * ''Voix yiddish de Montréal'', (selected texts), Montréal, Moebius, no 139. Preface from Lazer Lederhendler. 2013. * ''Légendes de Vancouver'', translation of

E. Pauline Johnson Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk stage name ''Tekahionwake'' (pronounced ''dageh-eeon-wageh'', ), was a Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centu ...

(''Legends of Vancouver''), Boucherville, Presses de Bras-d'Apic, 2012.

Prefaces

*''Un poète yiddish traverse l'Atlantique'' dans Sholem Shtern, ''Voyage au Canada,'' Montréal, Éditions du Noroît, 2018. *''Un beau ténébreux chez les'' nevi'im dans ''Leonard Cohen. Seul l'amour'' de Jacques Julien, Montreal, Triptyque, 2014. * ''Une dame victorienne et une princesse Mohawk'' dans ''Légendes de Vancouver'' (Legends of Vancouver) de E. Pauline Johnson, Boucherville, Presses de Bras-d'Apic, 2012.

Articles (selection)

*
When translation Becomes Homage
, ''Words Without Borders'' (The online magazine for International Literature), Essays, April 18, 2018. * "Leonard Cohen. 10 key Moments", ''Leonard Cohen. A Crack in Everything'' (exhibition catalogue), Musée d'art contemporain, Montreal, 2018. * "Divided Land, Fractured Souls", ''Lines'', Banff Centre Winter Writers' Retreat Chapbook, Winter 2017, p. 18-19. (published under the name Chantal Ringer.

List of honours

Awards

*Canadian Jewish Literary Award, 2017, category "Jewish Thought and Culture" * Prix littéraire Jacques-Poirier 2009

Grants

*Doctoral grant, Fonds de recherche du Québec - Société et culture (FRQSC), 2003-2005 * Postdoctoral grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), 2007-2008 * Grants for Professional Writers - Creative Writing Program,

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

, 2015-2022. * Dina Abramowicz Emerging Scholar Fellowship 2015-2016, Max Weinreich Center,

(Institute for Jewish Research), New York *International residency grant, Canada Council for the Arts, 2019

Residences

*Scholar-in-residence,

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , p ...

Brandeis University Brandeis University is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational institution sponsored by the Jews, Jewish community, Brandeis was established on t ...

, Waltham/Boston, Massachusetts, 2016 * Writer-in-residence (Winter Writer's Retreat), Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, February 2017 * Translator in residence, Banff International Literary Centre (BILTC), June 2017 *Writer-in-Residence, Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Brandeis University, 2019 *Reykjavik UNESCO City of Literature Residence (inauguration), October 2019.

Human rights involvement

On September 20, 2015, Ringuet has participated in the 2015 Rock'n'Roll

Marathon Oasis de Montreal The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divi ...

in order to raise funds for the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center. She has run in the memory of French writer and resistant

Charlotte Delbo Charlotte Delbo (10 August 1913 – 1 March 1985) was a French writer chiefly known for her haunting memoirs of her time as a prisoner in Auschwitz, where she was sent for her activities as a member of the French resistance. Biography Early life ...

, and in the memory of all Jewish intellectuals who were deported in the concentration camps during World War II.

References

External links

Web site of Chantal RinguetChantal Ringuet - Reykjavik City of Literature's Writer in Residence 2019

Conférence sur Akadem
"L'exil dans l'oeuvre de Leonard Cohen", Novembre 2014. *Robert Sarner,
Leonard Cohen turned this Montreal francophone into a champion of Jewish culture
, The Times of Israel, July 28, 2018. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ringuet, Chantal 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian Hebraists Canadian women poets Canadian poets in French Writers from Quebec City Living people University of Ottawa alumni Jewish culture 21st-century Canadian women writers Yiddish culture in North America Canadian people of French descent Canadian women non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian translators Women translators from Quebec