Marie Uguay (April 22, 1955 – October 26, 1981) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

poet from the province of

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, ...

. Her first book of poetry was ''Signe et rumeur'' (1976). She was born in the former town of

Ville-Émard Ville-Émard () is a neighbourhood located in the Le Sud-Ouest, Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Geography This neighbourhood is bordered by the Canal de l'Aqueduc, Aqueduct Canal to the east as far north as Desmarchais Boulevard wh ...

. It has become a district of the city of

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 ...

. Diagnosed with

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

, Uguay had to have her right leg amputated at the age of 21. She was still studying literature at the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

in literature. She died of cancer at the age of 26, on October 26, 1981. A cultural center in Ville-Émard was named for Uguay after her death. It still operates to day and also includes a public library.

Childhood

She was named Marie Lalonde'' at birth but eventually took her maternal grandfather's surname in his honor. He was a violin teacher, an amateur in literature, and she viewed him as a role model. She began writing very early, first stories for her pleasure. Soon she began writing poetry, appreciating how full of life a text could become through poetic verses.

Work

Uguay's poetry is marked by her reflections on Québec separatism, the

feminist movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for Radical politics, radical and Liberalism, liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and wom ...

, and on her illness. The critic Ben Libman has compared Uguay's prodigious brilliance to that of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

and

Jules Laforgue Jules Laforgue (; 16 August 1860 – 20 August 1887) was a Franco-Uruguayan poet, often referred to as a Symbolist poet. Critics and commentators have also pointed to Impressionism as a direct influence and his poetry has been called "part-symbo ...

. He writes "What astonishes about Uguay’s poetry, then, is not the maturity that, despite itself, is youthful but the youthfulness that, despite itself, is mature."

Bibliography

Original works

* ''Signe et rumeur'' (1976) * ''L'Outre-vie'' (1979) * ''Autoportraits'' (1982) (posthumous) * ''Journal'' 2005 (posthumous)

Works translated into English

* ''Selected poems (1975-1981)'' (translated by Daniel Sloate)

References

1955 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets Poets from Montreal Canadian poets in French Université du Québec à Montréal alumni People from Le Sud-Ouest 20th-century Canadian women writers {{Canada-poet-stub