Gilbert La Rocque
Gilbert La Rocque was a notable French Canadian writer and influential figure in the publishing world, recognized for both his literary contributions and his mentorship of emerging writers. Born in 1943 in Rosemont, Quebec, La Rocque faced a challenging upbringing, leaving school at a young age to work various jobs before embarking on a career in publishing in the 1970s. He became editor in chief at Éditions de l'Homme in 1972 and helped found VLB Éditeur in 1975, playing a critical role in editing and promoting a significant literary series.
La Rocque's writing often focuses on protagonists grappling with childhood traumas, particularly through themes of memory and identity. His most acclaimed novel, "Les Masques" (translated as "The Masks"), garnered multiple literary awards and is celebrated for its stylistic depth, influenced by French author Louis-Ferdinand Céline. La Rocque also ventured into radio and theater, adapting his work for diverse formats. Tragically, he passed away in 1984, leaving behind a legacy that includes both published novels and a wealth of unpublished material, underscoring his impact on Quebec literature.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Gilbert La Rocque
Author
- Born: April 29, 1943
- Birthplace: Rosemont, Quebec, Canada
- Died: November 26, 1984
Biography
Gilbert La Rocque was a French Canadian writer whose significance lay as much in his distinguished publishing career and encouragement of young writers as in his own work. One of his novels,Les Masques, achieved distinction and was translated into English as The Masks. His other novels, however, remain untranslated and somewhat forgotten.
La Rocque was born in 1943 in Rosemont, Quebec, Canada, the son of Charles-Edouard La Rocque, a tinsmith, and Lucie Savard La Rocque. After receiving a local elementary education, his family moved to Montreal-Nord when he was eleven, and he attended high school there. He left school at sixteen and took a number of minor jobs as a tinsmith, construction worker, bank employee, and office worker. In 1970, he found his first job in publishing.
In 1972, he became editor in chief of Éditions de l’Homme, a Quebec publishing house, and in 1975 he was a founding member of the publishing company VLB Éditeur. That year, he became literary director at Éditions L’Aurore, and he assumed the same position at another publishing house, Québec-Amérique, in 1978. While at the latter firm, he edited a literary series, Littérature Amérique, in which fifty titles were published in six years. La Rocque also wrote numerous articles and advised and encouraged many writers.
Before entering publishing, La Rocque had begun work on six novels that were later published during a fourteen-year period beginning in 1970. The first of these was Le Nombril, followed by Corridors. Both these and subsequent novels were about protagonists seeking to escape memories of childhood traumas, especially drowning. La Rocque’s style was greatly influenced by the French novelist Louis-Ferdinand Céline, especially in the handling of lengthy interior monologues and the pessimistic and negative portrayal of sensory experience in a very intense fashion.
His third novel, Après la boue, uses a female voice. The heroine’s traumas are linked to her childhood sufferings, but by the end of the novel she achieves some degree of healing and resolution. His fifth novel, Les Masques, is his most famous work. The novel won the Prix Littéraire Canada-Suisse and the Grand Prix du Journal de Montréal for 1981 and was short-listed for the Governor-General’s Award and the Prix France-Quebec. Le Masques was widely praised for the quality of La Rocque’s writing.
La Rocque’s radio play, Le Refuge, aired in 1977, and two years later he published an adaptation for the theater. La Rocque also coauthored three biographies of pioneer figures of the Canadian outback. He left a good deal of unpublished material when he suddenly died from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1984.