Antonine Maillet

Who is Antonine Maillet?

Antonine Maillet, PC CC OQ ONB FRSC is an Acadian novelist, playwright, and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick and lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Following high school, she received her BA from the Université de Moncton, followed by an MA from the same institution. She then received her PhD in literature in 1970 from the Université Laval. She taught literature and folklore at Laval, then in Montreal between 1971 to 1976. She later worked for Radio-Canada in Moncton as a script writer and host.

In 1976 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1981. Maillet was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1980. In 1985 she was made an Officier des Arts et des Lettres de France and in 2005 she was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick. She is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

In 1979 her work Pélagie-la-Charrette won the Prix Goncourt, making her the first non-European recipient.

In 1988, Antonine Maillet hosted the French-language Leaders' Debate for Radio-Canada TV between Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Liberal Party of Canada Leader John Turner, and New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent.