Marie Uguay

Marie Uguay (April 22, 1955 – October 26, 1981) was a French Canadian poet from the province of Quebec.

She was born in the former town of Ville-Émard which has now become a district of the city of Montreal.

A victim of bone cancer, she had her right leg amputated at the age of 21 while she was still undergoing studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal in literature. She died at the age of 26, from cancer, on October 26, 1981.

A cultural center in Ville-Émard was named for Uguay after her death and is still open today, as well as a public library.^[1][2]

Childhood

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

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