Through their unique observations of humanity’s flaws and aspirations, these five French-Canadian authors – Marie-Claire Blais, Jean Marc Dalpé, Dany Laferrière, Antonine Maillet and Marguerite-A. Primeau – have interpreted the world around them with honesty and compassion. Recognized throughout La Francophonie for their talents and accomplishments, and recipients of national and international accolades, these distinguished writers have brought French-Canadian literature to the world stage.

Good to know

Each booklet of 10 Permanent™ stamps in the French-Canadian Authors issue includes two of each of the five designs in the set.
Official First Day Covers for each author in the issue are also available.

About the issue

This stamp issue is a celebration of contemporary (20th/21st century) French-Canadian writing, emphasizing authors from francophone communities across the country.

Canada Post has a long tradition of celebrating Canadian cultural achievement and has featured numerous authors, writing in both French and English, on stamps over the years.

Marie-Claire Blais (1939-2021)

Born and raised in Québec, Quebec, Marie-Claire Blais, C.C., (1939-2021) was still in her teens when she wrote her first novel, La belle bête (1959; Mad Shadows, 1960), which immediately became a classic of Quebec literature. In 1966, Une saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel, 1966) won the Prix Médicis in France, a first for a Canadian.

Other honours she received during her prolific career include four Governor General’s Literary Awards.

Dany Laferrière (1953 -)

Dany Laferrière, O.C. was born in 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a young journalist, Laferrière fled the Haitian dictatorship and move to Montréal. His literary works, translated worldwide, have earned him numerous honours, including a Governor General’s Literary Award for Je suis fou de Vava (2006).

In 2013, he became the first Haitian and first Canadian elected to the Académie française.

Marguerite-A. Primeau (1914-2011)

Marguerite-A. Primeau was born in Saint-Paul-des-Métis (now St. Paul), Alberta and was a pioneering figure of francophone literature in western Canada.

Her first novel, Dans le muskeg (1960), accurately portrays the struggle of francophones in western Canada to preserve their language and culture.

She went on to win a Prix Champlain in 1986 for Sauvage-Sauvageon (1984; Savage Rose, 1999) and published two short story collections. Long favoured by critics, Primeau’s work has in recent years received the attention it deserves.

Jean Marc Dalpé (1957 -)

Ottawa-born Jean Marc Dalpé, C.M., is a playwright, actor, poet, novelist and translator, and a strong advocate for Franco Ontarian culture. In 1979, he cofounded the Théâtre de la Vieille 17, dedicated to the development of creative French language theatre in Ontario. He went on to work with the Théâtre du Nouvel Ontario, in Sudbury, Ontario, and later taught at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montréal.

He has been recognized with three Governor General’s Literary Awards, including one for the novel Un vent se lève qui éparpille (1999; Scattered in a Rising Wind, 2003).

Antonine Maillet (1929-)

Antonine Maillet, C.C., was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick. From a young age, she developed a passion for her Acadian identity, language and customs, which were being disrupted by mass media and urbanization.

Writing against that trend, Maillet published La Sagouine (1971; trans. 2007), a collection of monologues written in old Acadian French that pays tribute to the region’s oral tradition.

Her 1979 novel Pélagie-la-Charrette (Pélagie: The Return to a Homeland, 1982), recounts the return to Acadia of some of those deported by the British during the Great Upheaval of 1755, and won France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt.

About the design

Each stamp features an illustration based on a photograph chosen by either the author or their family.

Product # 414274111

French-Canadian Authors – Booklet of 10 Permanent™ domestic rate stamps