2011 Host & Judges

 

2011 Judge Karine Glorieux

Karine Glorieux
Karine Glorieux teaches literature at Collège de Maisonneuve, in Montreal, and is the author of the Mademoiselle Tic Tac series (published by Québec-Amérique in 2009 and 2010). She has also written children’s books. Her first novel, Neuf, is currently being adapted for the screen. Karine Glorieux worked for the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival in Montreal for many years, reads manuscripts for the Ville-Marie Littérature group from time to time, and is a passionate reader of graphic novels. In short, literature is her thing!

2011 Judge Robert Lalonde

Robert Lalonde
Writer and actor Robert Lalonde has performed in many films, including Shake Hands With The Devil in 2004. He is also a novelist and a playwright and has adapted a number of works for the theatre. His essays on ways of seeing, reading, and writing have been published to great acclaim by Les Éditions du Boréal, in Québec. His short story collections and novels have been shortlisted for many prizes. An accomplished translator, Lalonde translated Anne Michael’s Fugitive Pieces, published by Les Éditions du Boréal in 1998. Robert Lalonde has received numerous awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Grand prix du livre de Montréal, the France-Québec/Jean Hamelin Prize, and the Quebec-Paris Prize. He currently teaches drama at CEGEP Lionel-Groulx.

2011 Judge Diana Leblanc

Diana Leblanc
Soulpepper Theatre Company founding artist and award-winning actor and director Diana Leblanc has worked extensively in theatre, film, and television. A recipient of the Prix Alliance de lAlliance Française de Toronto, she is well-known to international TV audiences for her many roles, including Frannie Halcyon in the miniseries More Tales of the City and its follow-up Further Tales of the City and Trudeau matriarch Grace Elliott in Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making. She has also had roles in the films Lies My Father Told Me and The Third Walker, among others. A bilingual artist, she has worked with many of Canada’s most respected companies, including the Canadian Opera Company and Théâtre français de Toronto.

2011 Judge Dennis Lee

Dennis Lee
Dennis Lee is the author of more than twenty books for adults and children, including Civil Elegies, which won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, and the classic children’s book Alligator Pie. One of the founders of House of Anansi Press, over 40 years ago, Dennis Lee was named Toronto’s first poet laureate in 2003.

2011 Judge Albert Schultz

Albert Schultz
Albert is the Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company and General Director of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. He trained at York University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before joining the Stratford Festival Young Company under Robin Phillips. In 1992, Albert spent three years on CBC’s hit television series Street Legal, followed by two seasons as the lead in the series Side Effects. Most recently, he was the lead in CTV’s made-for-TV film Shades of Black (a biography of Conrad Black), which aired in December 2006. Albert regularly directs and appears on stage with Soulpepper. Currently he is appearing as “El Gallo” in the 2011 production of The Fantasticks. He also leads the Soulpepper Academy. Albert’s many honours include the City of Toronto Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award, the Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, and, for his work on behalf of UNICEF, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal. Albert has received honorary degrees from Queen’s and Bishop’s Universities in recognition of his contributions to Canadian theatre.

2011 Judge Karen Solie

Karen Solie
Karen Solie was born in Moose Jaw and grew up in southwest Saskatchewan. Her first collection of poems, Short Haul Engine, won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize. Her second, Modern and Normal, was shortlisted for a Trillium Award for Poetry. Her third, Pigeon, won the Pat Lowther Award, the Trillium, and the Griffin Poetry Prize. She has been on faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Sage Hill Writing Experience, served as writer-in-residence for the University of Alberta and University of New Brunswick, and taught creative writing for the University of British Columbia and York University. She lives in Toronto.

2011 Judge Elise Turcotte

Élise Turcotte
Élise Turcotte is a poet, novelist and short story writer. She has published close to a dozen award-winning books of poetry. Her most recent publications include Ce quelle voit (Noroît, 2010, shortlisted for the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal), Piano mélancolique (Noroît, 2005), and Sombre ménagerie (Noroît, 2002, winner of the Grand prix du Festival International de la Poésie). She has also published several children’s books, short stories, and three novels — Le bruit des choses vivantes (Leméac, 1991, Babel, 1998), Lîle de la Merci (Leméac, 1997; BQ, 2001), and La maison étrangère (Leméac, 2002, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2002) — as well as a book of essays entitled Pourquoi faire une maison avec ses morts (Leméac, 2007). Élise Turcotte’s books have been translated into English, Spanish, and Catalan. Her book Rose, derrière le rideau de la folie, won the 2010 Governor General’s Literary Award and was commended by the 2010 Prix PoésYvelines des collégiens.

 

Photo credits:
Karine Glorieux, by Martine Doyon
Robert Lalonde, by Martine Doyon
Karen Solie, by Barbara Stoneham
Élise Turcotte, by Martine Doucet

 

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