Suzanne Chouinard Martel was a French Canadian journalist, novelist and children's writer.
Life
Suzanne Chouinard was the daughter of Francis Xavier Chouinard, clerk of Quebec City between 1927 and 1961 and Lady Couillard, who resided at rue de Bernières in Quebec City until 1963. Her younger sister Monique became well known in Quebec as Monique Corriveau, the author of more than twenty novels for teenagers. Amazed by the universe of the novels of Rudyard Kipling, the Chouinard sisters invented an imaginary country, the Gotal, home to those they call "People in the wall". As children and teenagers, they wrote the adventures of these forty fictional characters they get to know as well as their own family. They were so attached to their writing that, when they reached twelve years old, their mother reportedly forbade them to write more than eight hours a day. Later, when they reached adulthood, they selected, in turn, a Montcorbier clan member and wrote of his adventures. This would become the most voluminous saga of the literary history of Quebec. Prior to the death of Monique Corriveau in 1976, the two sisters had written one for the other fifteen novels on their respective heroes. This saga remains largely unpublished to date. Suzanne Martel studied at École des Ursulines, Quebec, then continued her studies in literature and languages at the University of Toronto. She worked as a journalist for Le Soleil in 1945, then as a freelancer in 1946. After World War II, Martel came to live in Outremont with Maurice Martel, her husband, who was a lawyer. In subsequent years, the writer gave birth to six boys who quickly became her primary audience. Martel's first book was published in 1963, Quatre Montréalais en l'an 3000, a young-adult science fiction novel. She received the prize of the Canadian Association of French-language publishers. This classic children's book – which is said to be the first science fiction novel in Quebec – is still being studied in some schools. In 1971, she founded the weekly children's publication Safari in the newspaper Montréal-Matin. She was an editor until 1974 when the newspaper was sold to La Presse. Subsequently, Martel published many novels that made her one of the greatest novelists of adventure both in Quebec and Canada. On July 29, 2012, Martel died surrounded by her family in Ste-Adèle.
Awards
Martel's book Jeanne, Fille du Roy, is frequently read in highschool in Quebec and Ontario. She has won numerous awards, including:
Arnaud de Moncorbier – 1914 ; perhaps a reprint or omnibus
La musique de la lune – 1919
Les aigles d'argent – 1919
Her books have been translated into several languages including Spanish and Japanese. Another dozen or so were self-published for the family only. Her memoirs, in five tomes, were also printed for the family and close friends.
