| Two
Solicitudes
Margaret Atwood and Victor-Lévy
Translated by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott
Two of the leading figures in English-Canadian
and French-Canadian literature discuss their work, the country, and much
else. In March 1995, Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, the well-known French-Canadian
novelist and man of letters, spent a week in Toronto. That week in Toronto
was matched by a return engagement in May 1995, when Margaret Atwood visited
Victor-Lévy Beaulieu’s country home near Trois-Pistoles, Quebec.
There they discussed many topics of mutual interest which underlie literature:
the importance of childhood, of myth, of belonging to territory, the real
versus the imaginary world, the Native question in Canada, power and the
lack of it, and their own works.
As the title Two Solicitudes – suggested by Two
Solitudes – implies, the conversation was always based on the
question of two solitudes and of two equally engaged partners comparing
notes and trying to arrive at general truths. The result is a fascinating
book for anyone who cares about writing and about the future of Canada
and Quebec.
First published in 1996 in French as Deux Sollicitudes by Editions
Trois-Pistoles in Quebec, the book has now been translated into English
by Phyllis Aronoff and Howard Scott, well-respected translators based
in Montreal; in 1997 Howard Scott won the Governor General’s Award
for Translation.
Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939, and grew up in northern Ontario,
and later in Toronto. She is the author of more than 25 books, most recently
Alias Grace (novel) and Morning in the Burned House (poetry),
and is acclaimed internationally. Her many awards and honours include
the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award, the Canadian
Authors Association Award, The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence
in the U.K., and Le Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
in France. She lives in Toronto.
Victor-Lévy Beaulieu, born in St-Paul-de-la-Croix, Quebec, in 1945,
is a well-known figure on the Quebec literary scene. Novelist, essayist,
playwright, and journalist, he has won many prizes, including a Governor
General’s Award and the Prix France-Canada. He lives in Trois-Pistoles,
near Quebec City.
Non-fiction / Literary
0-7710-0836-8
$19.99 trade paper
6 x 9
240 pages
12 full-page photos on text stock |