Gil Courtemanche (August 18, 1943 – August 19, 2011)"Quebec writer Gil Courtemanche dies"
''

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 ...

'', August 19, 2011. was a Canadian progressive journalist and novelist in third-world and

international politics International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. He wrote for the

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 ...

newspaper ''

Le Devoir (, ) is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910. is one of few independent large-circulation newspapers in Quebec ...

''.

Life and career

Courtemanche was born in

, Quebec. He began his career as a journalist in 1962, with several collaborations with

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

including '' Le 60'', '' Métro Magazine'' and '' Présent National''. He later created '' L'Évènement'', a television program with Radio-Canada which he also hosted between 1978 and 1980. During the same period, he was also an editorialist with CBOT, an Ottawa radio station. In 1978, he hosted ''Contact'', the first public affairs magazine for

Télé-Québec The (; ), branded as () (formerly known as ), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec. The network's main studios an ...

. Between 1980 and 1986, he worked as a host, analyst and correspondent for the programs '' Télémag'', '' Première Page'' and ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and conservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines. ''Le Point'' was founded in 1972 by former journalists of ''L'Express'' and quickly rose to be ...

'' with Radio-Canada. Courtemanche helped found the sovereigntist and

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

newspaper '' Le Jour'', and also worked as a journalist with '' La Presse''. From 1986, he worked on various publications such as Alternatives and Le Libraire. He published columns on international politics in ''

Le Soleil Le Soleil ("The Sun") is the name of several newspapers: * ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec), a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1896 * ''Le Soleil'' (French newspaper), a defunct daily newspaper based in Paris fro ...

'', ''

Le Droit ''Le Droit'' is a Canadian French-language digital weekly newspaper, published in Gatineau, Quebec. Initially established and owned by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the paper was published by Martin Cauchon and his company, Capital ...

'', and ''Le Devoir''. He participated in making documentaries, including the series '' Soleil dans la nuit'' for TV5 Europe-Afrique-Canada, on the first anniversary of the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

. He also filmed a documentary on AIDS entitled '' The Gospel of AIDS''. Furthermore, he helped produced various documentaries and advertisements on the third-world for ''Le Cardinal Léger et ses œuvres'' and ''OXFAM-Québec'': leprosy in Haiti, the politics of water, agricultural development in the Philippines, education for disabled children in Thailand, etc. His first novel, '' Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali'', which documents the Rwandan genocide of 1994, was published in 2000. It was chosen for inclusion in the French version of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Fre ...

'', broadcast on Radio-Canada in 2004, where it was defended by writer, environmentalist and activist Laure Waridel. ''Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali'' eventually won the contest. It was filmed as ''

A Sunday in Kigali A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

(Un dimanche à Kigali)''.

Death

Courtemanche died August 19, 2011, from cancer, one day after his 68th birthday.

Bibliography

*''Douces colères'' (1989) *''Trente artistes dans un train'' (1989) *''Chroniques internationales'' (1991) *''Québec'' (1998) *''Nouvelles douces colères'' (1999) *'' Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali'' (2000). Translated into English as ''A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali'' by Patricia Claxton (2003) *''La Seconde Révolution tranquille – Démocratiser la démocratie'' (essay) (2003) *''Une belle mort'' (2005) *''Le monde, le lézard et moi'' (2009) *''Je ne veux pas mourir seul'' (2010)

Awards and recognition

*Winner: Prix des Libraires, 2000 *Winner: National Magazine Award for Political Reporting, 1998 *Nominee 2003 –

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

( French to English translation) *Nominee 2004 –

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers ...

References

External links

Author page at Random HouseAuthor page at ''Les Éditions du Boréal''
(in French) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtemanche, Gil 1943 births 2011 deaths Canadian male novelists Journalists from Montreal Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Deaths from cancer in Quebec Place of death missing Quebec sovereigntists Canadian novelists in French Canadian male screenwriters 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Le Devoir people Canadian screenwriters in French Screenwriters from Quebec Novelists from Montreal