Volume 36 Number 12	Edmonton, Canada	February 26, 1999
http://www.ualberta.ca/folio

Marguerite Primeau

Most Albertans have probably never heard of Marguerite Primeau, yet she is arguably one of the most talented, and most important, writers in Western Canada. This month the U of A alumna will get at least some of the recognition she deserves at the Salon du Livre in Paris, an international celebration of French publishing.

The Canadian embassy has invited Primeau to represent francophone writers outside of Quebec as part of the province's delegation to the event.

"It's quite an honor to tell you the truth," said Primeau from her home in Vancouver where she has lived for the past 45 years. "I'm not really recognized in B.C. - I'm hardly known. Outside of Quebec, a francophone writer does not have much chance to be recognized."

Dr. Pamela Singh of Facult‚ Saint-Jean, who has written extensively on her work and was a student of Primeau's in the late '70s, calls the invitation "a big symbolic gesture" for minority French writing in Canada. "It does underline the fact Quebec has had exiles that produce in French in other parts of the country who are often overshadowed by Quebec. [Primeau] is one of the original French-speaking spokesmen for Alberta literature - she has the best writing."

Primeau has written three novels and two collections of short stories and a number of critical articles over a career spanning more than 50 years. Her third novel, Sauvage Sauvageon, won the prestigious Prix Champlain in 1986 for best francophone novel in North America (excluding Quebec). As impressive as the prize was, however, it passed virtually unnoticed by Canada's literary establishment, says Singh. "She's been invisible. and this is a problem with minority French writing."

Primeau's fiction explores the problem of establishing and maintaining identity away from the cultural centre, says Singh. Her first novel, Dans le Mouskeg, is about "the innocent beginnings of bilingualism" in a small francophone settlement in Alberta.

"In a non-victimizing way, you see a peripheral character who somehow finds the courage and energy to glorify her solitude in terms of liberty and independence," says Singh. "Her characters all go against authority, and against society."

Born in St. Paul in 1914, Primeau taught in rural Alberta schools for six years after graduating from high school. She then studied a combination of English and French modern languages at the U of A, receiving her BA in 1946 and her MA in French in 1948. As a young writer struggling to find her voice, she credits Dr. Frederick Salter - a prolific scholar and creative writing instructor in the English department - with giving her the necessary encouragement.

"If I did any writing, it was thanks to Professor Salter," says Primeau. "He told me there wasn't much future writing in French in Western Canada, but he said, 'Go ahead - I admire your tenacity.' He remained a mentor to me until he passed away. He was a marvelous teacher and .he was the kindest person that I've ever known."

In 1948, Primeau received a bursary from the French government to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. She started her doctorate but quickly became disenchanted and left to teach at a girls' college in Nice for a year before returning to Canada in 1950. In the early '50s she taught conversational French at the U of A and finally received a full-time appointment at UBC in 1954.

She remained there until her retirement in 1979, but surviving in a male-dominated French department all those years was by no means easy, says Singh. When she published her first novel in 1960, no one seemed to care.

"Not only was she a woman, but - being from the Prairies - Albertans were considered hicks. She had a rough time against those men, but she persevered."

Primeau's most recent work is a collection of short stories, Ol' Man, Ol' Dog et l'enfant et autres nouvelles (1996). While in Paris, she will read from the just translated Sauvage Sauvageon at the Librarie Canadienne.

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