André Lamontagne's novel The Gravediggers (Ekstasis $24.95) follows a Radio-Canada journalist living in Vancouver who returns to his native Québec City to spend Christmas with his family and researches Chinese roots for a West Coast neighbour. As the journalist traces the grandfather's history, he notices a mysterious young man with whom he crosses paths, but does not interact. This unnamed individual is fascinated by the disastrous fires which decimated Québec City in the 19th century. As the two men carry out their separate investigations, each discovers unknown facets of the city, from the old graveyards of the Chinese community and a possible traffic in bones, to an unfinished tunnel and the young people squatting in it, to the many tragic fires that marked the old capital. Originally published in French, this novel has been translated into English by Margaret Wilson Fuller.

Born in Québec City, André Lamontagne of Vancouver is the Vice-President of the Francophone Historical Society of British Columbia and head of the French, Spanish and Italian Studies Department at the University of British Columbia.

As a scholar and creative writer, Lamontagne is the author of two essays on Quebecois Literature, Les mots des autres (1992) and Le roman québécois contemporain : les voix sous les mots (2004); of a collection of short stories (Le tribunal parallèle, nominated for the Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada 2007 and for the Prix Emile-Ollivier du Conseil supérieur de la langue française 2008) and of a novel, Les fossoyeurs (nominated for the Prix des lecteurs de Radio-Canada 2010).

978-1-897430-93-4

BOOKS:

Les mots des autres (1992)

Le roman québécois contemporain : les voix sous les mots (Montreal: Fides, 2004)

Bibliographie de la critique de la litterature quebecoise au Canada anglais (1939-1989). Quebec, Editions Nota bene, 2004. Co-author with Rejean Beaudoin

Le tribunal parallèle (2007)

Les fossoyeurs (2010) / The Gravediggers (Ekstasis 2012)

[BCBW 2012] "French"