Divas
Conversation with Martine Delvaux

The Canadian Cultural Centre invites you to a conversation with Quebec writer and essayist Martine Delvaux in the occasion of the release in France of her new non-fiction book Divas, published by Heliotrope

A leading voice of feminism in Canada, Martine Delvaux delivers a sensitive and wide-ranging exploration of the voices of those whom society has so often tried to silence.

“This isn’t about catching divas—all divas—with the aim of collecting them, compiling an encyclopedia or dictionary of them, or pinning exhaustive knowledge or academic scholarship onto them; it isn’t about pinning them down as one might do with butterflies. No, it is simply a matter of choosing certain ones, of listening to their voices rise to draw from them a lesson in creativity and ambition, as well as in humanity and humility.” Martine Delvaux, excerpt from Divas

“From the emotion that grips her as she’s listening to Ne me quitte pas sung by Nina Simone on Christmas Eve, Martine Delvaux weaves a rich tapestry of a book, flowing freely along the paths blazed by all those who dared to sing and by all those who allowed themselves to hear them. For the voices of women, their song, Delvaux tells us, is in itself a subversive force that flows. And “diva” means : power, sadness and joy ; a desire to live and a refusal to be silenced.” Louise Chennevière

Because speaking, is also singing, speaking out, crying, shouting, and sometimes staying silent, or being silenced. Our entire lives are reflected in this topic.” Titiou Lecoq

 A novelist and essayist, as well as a professor in literature studies, Martine Delvaux was shortlisted for the 2024 Prix Médicis for Essays for Ça aurait pu être un film. She has also published Thelma, Louise & moi, Le monde est à toi, Pompières et pyromanes, Il faut beaucoup aimer les femmes qui pleurent and Le boys club awarded by the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal en 2020.