"La liberté, messieurs, c'est une chose qu'il faut choisir aussi grande qu'on est capable de le supporter!"
"Freedom, Messieurs, is something you must choose; and you must make it as vast as you can stand it!"
– Jacques Poulin, My Horse for a Kingdom. Translated by Sheila Fischman.
Jacques Poulin is most associated with his native Québec City, but also spent many years in Paris. His award-winning oeuvre is characterized by an understated, intimate style and gentle, feline musicality. Poulin has published fourteen novels, many of which have been translated into English by Sheila Fischman, including the "Jimmy" trilogy, Volkswagen Blues, and Translation is a Love Affair.
Over the course of a prolific career Jacques Poulin has won leading national and international awards including the Governor General's Literary Award (1978), the Prix France-Québec (1991), the Prix Littéraire des Collégiens (2003), the government of Québec's Althanse-David lifetime achievement award (1995), and the City of Québec's literary award, the Prix de création littéraire (2003).