Conversation with Mireille Gagné
The Night of literature

On May 29, for the 9th edition of the Night of Literature organised by the Forum of Foreign Cultural Institutes in Paris (FICEP). Join all the foreign cultural centres on the FICEP’s Facebook page and YouTube channel from 6pm. 

For this online edition, discover the world’s literature with 17 foreign authors from different horizons. On the programme: readings of excerpts (in French and original language) and short interviews! 

The Canadian Cultural Centre presents Québec author Mireille Gagné for her first novel Le lièvre d’Amérique published by La Peuplade. 

Summary:
Diane’s body is trying to adapt slowly. She sleeps less, becomes stronger and develops impressive stamina. The model employee that she was can surpass herself even more at work. But the unexpected effects of the surgery she has just undergone are causing her to panic. The space in her head tightens, she feels metal instead of bone. Everything is more vivid—her vision, her sense of smell, her breathing. To top it all off, her hair turns completely red in the space of one night.

And then the males begin to follow her.

Fifteen years earlier, Diane has had a summer that marks her adolescence at Isle-aux-Grues, those days of heavy seas when Eugene braved the dangers, his friend’s fascination with endangered species and—how to recover—the night of the fire.

This novel, a neo-liberal animal fable, is for those who have gone astray.

Biography:
Mireille Gagné was born in Isle-aux-Grues and lives in Quebec City, Canada. Since 2010, she has published books of poetry and short stories. Le lièvre d’Amérique is her first novel. It was highly praised by the press when it was released in Quebec and in France and was also a finalist for several French literary prizes in 2021, such as the Prix Les Inrockuptibles and the Prix Wepler – Fondation La Poste.