“Tiohtiá:ke [Montréal]” by Michel Jean

Michel Jean returns to the Canadian Cultural Centre to present his latest novel, Tiohtià:ke [Montréal], published in the Voix Autochtones collection by Éditions du Seuil. A sensitive novel with deeply human characters who, with empathy and introspection, plunge us into the reality of homeless Indigenous people in Montreal.

Before the arrival of Europeans, the island of Montreal was Mohwak territory. Tiohtià:ke is the Mohwak name for the island of Montreal. Elie Mestenapeo, a young Innu from the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, killed his abusive father in a fit of rage. He spent 10 years in prison. On his release, banished for life by his community, he headed for Montreal, where he soon joined a new community: that of the homeless Indigenous, the invisible among the invisible.

Michel Jean works through this tragic world with grace, using a minimalist style, full of sounds, smells and images and devoid of pathos.

Born in 1960, Michel Jean is an Innu journalist and author. He worked as a reporter for some twenty years, covering conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon. He now presents the news on TVA, one of Quebec’s major television networks. Michel Jean is the author of several books and is very active on Quebec’s Indigenous literary scene. His previous novel, Kukum (published by Dépaysage and in paperback by Points) won the Prix France-Québec in 2020, the Prix VLEEL in 2020, the Prix Nature Nomade in 2021, the Prix Étincelles in 2022 and the Prix du Meilleur Roman des lecteurs Points in 2023.

The event will be hosted by Marie Jouvin, journalist for Lire Magazine and founder of the Trouble Bibliomane blog. It will be followed by a signing session.

In partnership with Editions du Seuil