Funeral for Antonine Maillet to be held in Moncton on Saturday
Social Sharing
A public funeral for renowned Acadian writer Antonine Maillet will be held in Moncton on Saturday.
It will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption Cathedral on St. George Street. Flags will also be flown at half-mast across all three campuses of the Université de Moncton in her memory.
Maillet was born in Bouctouche in 1929 and died at her home in Montreal on Feb. 17 at the age of 95.
She received many literary awards in her career, including the Governor General's Award for Don l'Orignal, published in 1968, and the Prix Goncourt in 1979 for her novel Pélagie-la-Charrette, the first Canadian writer to receive the prestigious French literary award.
She wrote 12 plays and 20 novels and was called "the greatest voice of Acadia" by New Brunswick Tourism Minister Isabelle Thériault.
"In everything — in her books, in her plays, in the music — she wanted Acadie to shine and that's actually what she accomplished … she allowed Acadie to shine throughout Canada and the world," said Thériault, when news of Maillet's death was announced.
On the day Maillet's death was announced, Monique Poirier, executive and artistic director of Le Pays de la Sagouine, the theatrical village in Bouctouche, said, "It's a very sad day, but we are so grateful for everything that she has done."
The village brings to life the characters Maillet created, including her famous La Sagouine. That play was first staged in 1971 with Viola Leger in the title role
Moncton's annual literary festival, the Frye Festival, will honour the late novelist and playwright with a special literary show on May 4, to showcase the depth of her writing.
Ariane Savoie, the festival's executive director, previously said Maillet helped inspire the idea to create the festival in 1999.
At the time, Maillet was co-organizing a bilingual conference in Moncton with author John Ralston Saul, Savoie said.
"That idea of the Frye Festival kind of generated from that event specifically," she said. "Having a bilingual literary conference here in Moncton brought up the fact that Moncton needed these activities."
In 2006, the first Maillet-Frye Lecture took place at the Frye and has since become a staple of the festival.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
20-05-2025
- CBC
Iceland's former first lady Eliza Reid on her debut novel
The bestselling Canadian writer joins Tom Power to talk about her new book, Death on the Island Social Sharing
Vancouver Sun
09-05-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Anger looms large in entertaining new novel from Family Law showrunner
Susin Nielsen 's move from novels for readers aged eight to 12 to adults began with a not-so-great interaction with a child. Well over a decade ago Vancouver's Nielsen , who at the time had written for the TV shows Robson Arms and Degrassi, was in Toronto speaking to a gym full of kids about writing for TV versus writing books. During the talk, the author of seven middle-grade-aged novels including The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen (2012), winner of the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award, showed a picture of a large group of people in order to show the team that it takes to make a TV show. Then, she moved on to showing the team that it takes to write a novel at home. The picture she presented was a snapshot of her cat. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. At the end of her presentation, the floor was opened for questions. One Grade 7 boy put up his hand and, thinking he was funny, asked an inappropriate question about the cat photograph. You can probably guess the basic gist of his sexual innuendo query. 'His friends were goading him, giggling and laughing,' said Nielsen, who is the creator and showrunner of the Vancouver-shot TV series Family Law . 'I just saw black; it was just fury. I was mortified.' Nielsen wrapped up the presentation and right after a teacher made a 'beeline' toward her. 'I thought, 'OK, thank God she's going to tell me they're going to deal with that little s–t,' ' said Nielsen. 'And you know what she said to me? She said, 'You worked on Degrassi, did you meet Drake?' ' Nielsen hadn't met Drake. But, that day, she did meet that disruptive kid when she waded into the crowd and read him the riot act about his lewd and disrespectful questions. The child whimpered an apology and Nielsen left angry. And inspired. 'I remember I was so upset, but I also remember thinking, 'You know, this could be a really funny opening of a book,' ' said Nielsen 'He did give me a gift, weirdly.' He also gave her an apology in the form of a letter. Flash-forward and Nielsen's first adult novel, the funny and thought-provoking Snap, opens with 55-year-old Frances, a writer of popular Y/A novels who is emotionally wrecked after her marriage ends. During a talk at a school library, Frances is repeatedly interrupted by a rude boy. Frances snaps and grabs the boy and shakes him. Because it's today and everyone has a camera, the incident is recorded and shared, turning Frances's world upside down. By law she is required to attend anger management classes and there she meets Parker, a 23-year-old wardrobe assistant on a hit TV show, and 41-year-old Geraint, a mechanic and family man. Both also snapped and lashed out. The three quickly become friends as they try to move forward with the help of each other and a couple of nice doses of what Nielsen calls 'authorial vengeance.' While the incident with the kid in Toronto was the early seed of Nielsen's idea for an adult novel, the plan really took root while she was writing her last Y/A novel, 2021's Tremendous Things. '(I) remember feeling as I was writing that I was aware that I may start repeating myself and that was a bit of a terrifying feeling. I thought I just don't want to start churning out the same thing,' said Nielsen. Nielsen was further inspired to age up through her work as a TV writer. 'I was doing Family Law for a number of years and I was in this world where I was writing predominantly grown-up characters,' said Nielsen about her work on the show. 'I loved it, and I loved writing for Abby (main character in the series played by Jewel Staite). And I've done that before in television, where I've written for adults, but I found Abby's voice, so compelling … I just thought, 'Well, what the hell, why not try?' 'I'm not trying to be the next Margaret Atwood or Ann-Marie MacDonald, but I wanted to write a light, funny, hopefully sometimes poignant book. And I just thought, 'F–k it. I'm gonna try.' ' While Nielsen has left the children behind for now, she hasn't changed her approach to storytelling, which always utilizes humour. In Snap, she has Francis coming home from a disastrous online date and settling in with her daughter and a drink. The pair switch on the TV and watch Family Law reruns so 'Frances could have a laugh and be soothed by the presence of Victor Garber.' 'Isn't that terrible?' said Nielsen, laughing about the self-promotional nod to her TV show, which stars the Canadian icon Garber. 'My husband says I'm the queen of laughing at my own jokes. So yeah, I do think it made me laugh when I wrote it.' While there are plenty of funny moments in Snap, the storylines of the three main characters grow out of very serious situations. 'I can't write anything that doesn't have humour. I feel like that's been my saving grace in life,' said Nielsen. With the move into more adult-themed stories, Nielsen, who is currently working on another adult novel, hopes readers who discovered her novels when they were kids will now, as adults, continue to seek out her work. 'I know that's what my agent and publisher hope,' said Nielsen, with a laugh. 'Maybe some of (my young readers) will follow me into this world. I would love it.' Dgee@
Japan Forward
04-05-2025
- Japan Forward
Star Wars Celebration Japan: The Ultimate Fan Galaxy
At Star Wars Celebration Japan, fans, filmmakers, and stars came together in a joyful, global tribute to the galaxy that shaped this writer's childhood. The Live Stage at Star Wars Celebration Japan, where hordes of fans gathered to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. As a lifelong Star Wars superfan, I can't tell you how excited I was when, in 2023, Lucasfilm announced that the next edition of its official fan expo Star Wars Celebration would be held in 2025 in Japan, bringing a selection of my favorite movie stars and 100,000 fans together at Makuhari Messe. I immediately collared my colleagues on IGN's US team to suggest we collaborate on coverage when the event came out of hyperspace two years later. I've never planned anything so far ahead in my life! It was worth it. For the three days of April 18–20 at Star Wars Celebration Japan, the IGN Japan and US editorial teams worked closely together in our own private on-site studio. There, we interviewed the stars of Star Wars . From The Mandalorian filmmakers and series stewards Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau to actors like Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks), and half a dozen cast members from the Disney+ show Andor, we spoke with dozens of visiting guests from a galaxy far, far away. Daniel shaking hands with Hayden Christensen (left), the actor who portrays Anakin Skywalker and his evil alter-ego, Darth Vader. During Celebration, new shows were announced. Surprises included a brand-new animated series titled Maul: Shadow Lord , which follows the one-time Sith apprentice as he returns from near-death. Attendees also got a first look at footage from the upcoming film The Mandalorian & Grogu , which will be the first big-screen Star Wars movie since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker when it is released in 2026. In a surprise appearance, actor Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy confirmed the title of their own upcoming movie, Star Wars: Starfighter . They said it will hit theaters on May 28, 2027. Director Dave Filoni, co-writer Jon Favreau, and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy share a first glimpse of the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian & Grogu on the Celebration Stage. We covered these and more announcements from the show floor, which you can read about in more detail on IGN. Star Wars has been my favorite movie series for as long as I can remember. I was around four years old when Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, and I was instantly hooked. As a child, I'm not sure how much of the story I took in. Nevertheless, heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa left an indelible mark on my tiny soul, while droids R2-D2 and C-3PO still feel like some of my oldest friends. Not to mention the film's bizarre collection of creatures, from the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt to the plucky Ewok Wicket, and the huge collection of action figures that brought them to life in my hands even after the movie ended. This was in the days of VHS tapes, and when my dad recorded a TV broadcast of 1977's A New Hope , I watched it over and over again, my imagination on fire. Its tale of a raggedy band of brave heroes fighting to topple a fascistic authoritarian empire feels just as relevant today. Two other formative movie series for me were Ghostbusters , released in 1984 when I was five or six, and the space horror masterpiece Alien , which invaded my psyche forever when I saw it much too young at around age 10. I re-watch films in these series every year or two, even now, and they have defined my taste forever. Sigourney Weaver on the set of The Mandalorian & Grogu with Jon Favreau. So, imagine my shock when, during our planning for Star Wars Celebration Japan, I learned I would have the chance to interview the actress who played Dana Barrett and Ellen Ripley herself: Sigourney Weaver. She will join the Star Wars universe for the first time when she appears in The Mandalorian & Grogu , slated for release in 2026. I have interviewed hundreds of stars, and I rarely get starstruck or nervous. But looking through the list of interviewees a couple of weeks before Celebration and seeing the name "Sigourney Weaver" knocked the wind out of me. As the event grew closer, I grew ever more convinced that faced with this heroine of my childhood, I would forget my own name or simply burst into flames. Thankfully, I was able to get this out of my system before Celebration. When the time came, Weaver was a delight, answering our ludicrous questions comparing cute little Grogu with the terrifying Xenomorph with grace and humor. I even managed to remember my own name. It was also a thrill to meet Ahmed Best. When The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, his character Jar-Jar Binks was a jarring presence (no pun intended). I'm ashamed to say that old-school Star Wars fans like myself treated the character's slapstick antics with vocal disdain. Best has spoken out about how even in these pre-social media days, the backlash was so harsh that he considered taking his own life. Exsqueeze me! Mesa happy to meet the lovely Ahmed Best at SWCJ!The one and only Jar-Jar Binks *and* Kelleran Beq 💕 ジャー・ジャーの俳優であるAhmed Bestさんに会えて嬉しかったです！ — Daniel Robson (@NoMoreDaniels) April 18, 2025 The prequel movies have been widely reappraised since then. Now that digital filmmaking has become the norm, they don't feel so alien — and indeed, they set the blueprint for pretty much all of today's blockbuster effects movies. Also, the younger generation of fans for whom the prequels were their first Star Wars movies loved goofy Jar-Jar, and now they are adults themselves. Personally, a few years ago, I watched through the Star Wars movies in sequence with my daughter when she was around seven years old. Seeing her giggle at Jar-Jar's chaotic antics made me fall in love with him completely. Best has since been reinstated into the Star Wars fold, playing Kelleran Beq, the Jedi knight who saved Grogu from destruction in the Jedi Temple during Season 3 of The Mandalorian – a role of great dignity. Meeting him at Celebration was such a pleasure. Later that weekend, my daughter and I found a Jar-Jar plush that shrieks uncontrollably when squeezed. It made us laugh so hard, we had no choice but to buy it. I love the Star Wars films and spinoff shows themselves, of course, but also the fandom around them. Star Wars Celebration Japan brought fans of all ages and nationalities to Makuhari Messe. While I don't know the official percentage, it felt like 70 or 80% of the audience was from overseas, with Disney claiming participants from 125 countries. Many of the fans I met told me they were visiting Japan for the first time, taking a couple of weeks on either side of Celebration to explore Tokyo or to visit cities like Osaka and Kyoto. Star Wars creator George Lucas was influenced in part by Japanese culture and the movies of Akira Kurosawa, so Japan was like a mecca for these fans. I felt proud that Star Wars could make so many people interested in Japan and its culture, with Celebration showing Japan in a positive light that the 2020 Olympics or Expo 2025 Osaka could have only dreamed of. And where you have a massive venue filled with Star Wars fans, you have cosplay. Japanese cosplayers are of course the best in the world, and at Celebration I was amazed by cosplayer Ricky's acrobatic recreation of a rolling Droideka robot, Yuuki's kimono-clad oiran Maul, Mayu's Sith bandit leader from Star Wars: Visions , a guy dressed as Luke Skywalker riding a horse-like Tauntaun, and a couple connected together as the front and back halves of Anakin's podracer. Cosplayer Yuuki posing in an exquisite kimono as an oiran take on Star Wars villain Maul It was also impressive to see how visiting fans brought their intricate costumes with them to Japan, not to be outdone by the locals. Some favourites included a lifelike (and very tall) Chewbacca, and a pair of women dressed as the Rancor monster and its keeper. Meanwhile, some friends of mine dressed as Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, the Master Codebreaker from a casino in The Last Jedi , and a Jedi escorting his kids dressed as Mando and Ahsoka Tano. Seeing the amount of work they put into their costumes during the run-up to Celebration was inspiring. The Rancor monster from Return of the Jedi, led by its affable keeper. Another cool thing was SWAG. An acronym for "Something We All Get/Give" that also simply means "swag," this is a tradition where fans trade homemade stickers, patches, badges, and even 3D-printed figures with other fans. It's a great way to break the ice, and the amount of creativity that goes into these items is incredible, from artistic takes on beloved characters to iconography advertising local fan groups from around the world. Not wanting to be left out, I made a batch of stickers before Celebration to trade, featuring a terrible pun-based gag that managed to win a few laughs when I exchanged them with people at the show. Here's the sticker design — please forgive me! Star Wars Celebration Japan was an overwhelming outpouring of positivity that made me happy to be a Star Wars fan. It was a dream come true to meet the stars of my favourite movies and TV shows, of course, but more than that, it was a joy to meet so many other fans in person. Away from the anonymous barrier of social media, there was no negativity to be found. It was also a delight to expose my daughter, now nearly 13, to this wholesome expression of love, unity, and hope. In these turbulent times, it really felt like being a part of a Rebel Alliance. Far from merely an expo, Star Wars Celebration Japan was just that: a celebration. Author: Daniel Robson
