Francophone children's authors C. Claire Mallet and Alain Ulysse Tremblay will be visiting Prince Edward Island during the 3rd edition of the Francophone component of the Canadian Children's Book Week, November 1-8, 2003. The Department of Community and Cultural Affairs and the Department of Education are once again joining forces to produce another successful event. This Literary Reading Tour will be held in French public libraries and French immersion schools throughout the province.
"Canadian Children's Book Week is a valuable opportunity to promote Canadian literary talents and helps to generate an increased interest in the literary arts among youth," says Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs, Elmer MacFadyen. "We are pleased to work in partnership to provide these important learning opportunities to Island youth."
Education Minister Mildred Dover advised that the literary tours are very popular with students. "The opportunity to meet well-known authors adds a whole new dimension to the reading experience which students really enjoy, and many are inspired by. We are very happy to support such learning events which promote Canadian literature and a love of reading," said Minister Dover.
C. Claire Mallet will meet grade three students and Alain Ulysse Tremblay, grade six students. Also, the general public is invited to a family literary session presented by Alain Ulysse Tremblay at the Abram-Village public library on Tuesday, November 4 at 7:00 p.m. During this event, entitled Écrire pour les jeunes (Writing for youth), Alain Ulysse Tremblay will display his literary creation talents.
The Canadian Children's Book Week is coordinated by Communication-Jeunesse, an agency that promotes children's literature and develops different reading mediation activities for children. This event is made possible with the financial assistance of the Canadian Arts Council and Imprimeries Transcontinental – Groupe du livre, with the collaboration of Radio-Canada's Première chaîne and Chaîne culturelle, Magazine Enfants-Québec, the Canadian Children's Book Center, the Regroupement des éditeurs canadiens-français, the Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois, the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and Library and Archives of Canada.
C. Claire Mallet studied literature, music and cinema and then discovered professional storytelling. She is known as the storytelling guitar player. She tells stories of her native country, France, or stories related to her travels around the world. With the use of her guitar, she transports the audience in her imaginary world. She published Disparition chez les lutins and Un squelette mal dans sa peau at the Éditions de la Paix publishing house.
Alain Ulysse Tremblay has an impressive list of accomplishments. In addition to being a teacher, journalist, playwright, and painter, he recently added author to his list. He created a series that he named Les Jupiterriens, at La courte échelle publishing house, offering readers five novels, each one presenting the points of view of various characters involved in one same storyline: Mon père est un Jupi, Le livre de Jog, Le don de Jonathan, Jeanne La terrienne and L'héritage de Julien (to be published in January 2004). His combination of humour and mystery has captivated young readers and established a form of loyalty to his characters.
For more information, contact Chantale Bellemare, French Services Librarian, Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, 902-432-2667 or 902-888-8370.