Yves Thériault

Thériault, Yves

Yves Thériault, writer (b at Québec C 27 Nov 1915; d at Joliette, Qué 20 Oct 1983). The originality, diversity and importance of his work made Thériault one of Québec's most popular writers, both in Canada and abroad. Son of a carpenter, he tried various occupations before earning his living from writing. The 1944 publication of his first book, Contes pour un homme seul, attracted great public attention, but it was his novel Agaguk, published in 1958 and translated into 7 languages, which made him famous. He wrote in many different genres for many different audiences. The expression of insistent sexuality, of an often savage and unconquerable nature, of characters seeking the absolute, torn between their desire for power and their need for tenderness, and the effectiveness of his writing style, which alternates between the oral and the written, testify to his evocative imaginative power.