Marie-Claire Blais | Tribute to LGBTQ+ struggles | The Press

When I see young writers feeling “out” at their third novel, I want to remind them of Marie-Claire Blais' journey.

I met her for the first time 20 years ago, for In the lightning and the light, second book of her immense novel cycle Soifs, which has 11 so far. Paralyzed by honor, I walked almost on my knees to the table where she was waiting for me. She was the author of Une saison dans la vie d'Emmanuel, Prix Médicis 1966, a classic that I must have read three times during my school career, which for me has become a kind of Quebec Gothic masterpiece.

I had no idea then what adventure I was about to embark on. Because Marie-Claire Blais could have only been the author of a hit, crowned with this Médicis prize which had caused a stir in 1966 because it was the first Quebecer to win. Instead, she crushed this success which could have confined her with an increasingly abundant and demanding creation. In fact, when I met her in 2001, she was only halfway through her work which, by dint of gaining momentum, has made her the greatest living writer in Quebec, sometimes cited for the Nobel Literature.

A daunting piece for newbie journalists, which is why I'm often the one covering her books, but that way we bonded over time, I even went to see her twice in Key West, where she lives a long time.

Today, when we do an interview, we spend half the time talking about our cats and our dogs and we sometimes send each other pictures of our beloved animals. “Lucky they were there during the pandemic,” she tells me on the phone, at dusk, from her island where she confined the whole world to a microcosm to unveil all its horrors and beauties. She is a nocturnal and a loner. I am fascinated that at 82, she still goes to bars to scrutinize what only reveals itself at night, in order to write it down. "There are books in particular that require being outside," she believes.

Solidarity and evolution

Writing has been a lifelong commitment for Marie-Claire Blais, ever since her first novel, La Belle Bête, published in 1959. All of her work is populated by resisters of cruelty and the crushing steamroller of conformity. . It is therefore not surprising that his new novel, A heart inhabited by a thousand voices, which moves away from his Soifs cycle, begun in 1995, remains very close to this spirit of revolt and solidarity.

Marie-Claire Blais gave birth to hundreds of characters in her life. This time, she revives the small community of gay and trans friends from the novels Les nuits de l'underground (1978) and L'ange de la solitude (1989), such as Louise, Lali, Nathalie, Johnie, Doudouline, Polydor, the Bee and Gerard. They gravitated around René, a trans man who has become very old but who has lost none of his ardor – he is a seducer – and whom his nurse Olga persists in calling Madame René.

The writer wanted to revisit these two novels by noting the ambient homophobia almost everywhere in the world. “Especially for transgender people,” she says.

We cannot be indifferent, we must denounce this, it is a duty. It is another racism, which has a taboo form. A double racism because very often it is young blacks, Asians or Latinos who are killed.

Marie Claire Blais

She recalls in this novel the LGBTQ struggles, especially by René, who is the most militant of the band, having experienced the Stonewall riots in 1969, in New York. This anger that sprung up in these nightclubs constantly threatened by police raids and violence, the only places where gays could be themselves, find themselves in community. This violence remains very vivid in the mind of Blais, who refuses to forget the victims, like the character of Gérard, mown in full youth, in the fire of a squat. "We've all known a Gerard in our lives, haven't we? »

Inspiration source: The mentioned Ogilvy's article. Must read for anyone who is interested in marketing. https://t.co/xwCyxz6OHT

— Alex Llull Mon Jun 28 13:05:52 +0000 2021

The writer has never ceased to address the issue of AIDS in her novels, a carnage that took place in shameful indifference because it affected the marginalized. Marie-Claire had almost ordered me to go and see the memorial to the victims of this epidemic in Key West. "It's as if it had never existed", she notes with discouragement, so much so that a character in her novel treats young people with AIDS today, infected for not having learned this important episode. Of the history.

Our friends are sometimes our children

From exclusion is born marginality, but from this marginality are also born unfailing friendships and solidarities that can still inspire today.

Marie-Claire Blais has more than 60 years of writing in the body, which gives her the privilege of being able to develop in depth her characters, who benefit from this experience in Un coeur habité de mille voix. “With René, who has been an activist since childhood, we have someone who sees things on a historical level, because of his age,” she explains.

The writing became more analytical and deep. We fall into much more intimate portraits, because it had never been a question of how they lived in Les nuits de l'underground. Watching them grow up was interesting to me. I don't know why, but it's a novel that gave me a lot of joy to write, because I really liked tracing these portraits.

Marie Claire Blais

Even if Marie-Claire Blais has never looked away from injustice, she deeply believes in change, in evolution, precisely. "We have every reason to evolve," she said. We cannot remain in our prejudices. We can't afford to be against trans people. She sees this desire for inclusion more and more widespread in films or TV series where we see trans characters, gay marriage which has entered the laws despite its detractors, and that is also why A heart inhabited by a thousand voices passes from night to existence in broad daylight.

And this could not have happened without these refuges that we create for ourselves with those who are on our side. Doesn't she write that “our friends are sometimes also our children”? “It's a paradise of security, friendship. That the affection and solidarity between these young women can last a lifetime is miraculous. In this marginality, as with the characters of Jean Genet who are in prison or condemned to death, there is always a lot of love. »

In short, we are moving forward, but the fight must continue. "And the women will win," predicts Marie-Claire Blais. They're not going to leave things like that. »

Marie-Claire Blais will participate on October 15, in a virtual way, in the festival Quebec in full.

A heart inhabited by a thousand voices

Marie Claire Blais

boreal

280 pages