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Marie-Christine Lévesque
Marie-Christine Lévesque (1958 – 16 July 2020) was a Canadian art director,[1] author and editor.[3][4][5] As an art director she won the 2005 Applied Arts Award for the cover design of 9 Vues.[1] Her partner was Serge Bouchard[6] and she co-authored books with him including Elles ont fait l’Amérique : De remarquables oubliés, tome 1 and Le peuple rieur. Hommage à mes amis innus, the latter of which won the 2018 Le Prix Victor-Barbeau award.[2] Her writings explored the lives of North American people from the 16th century to the 19th century[7] and the Innu people.[6] Early lifeLévesque is the daughter of Gérard D. Levesque and Denyse Lefort.[3] She grew up beside an indigenous reserve but was raised to be scared of this group of people.[5] Professional careerLévesque started her career as an advertising designer[4] and worked as an art director for book jackets.[1] She received the 2005 Applied Arts Award for the cover design of 9 Vues, a book presenting the engravings of Louise Masson that accompanied the poetry of Daniel Danis.[1] She also received a 2005 Applied Arts Award as the art director for Peau/Parfum/Noire.[8] Lévesque worked as an editor before committing to writing full-time.[4] In 2011 Lévesque co-wrote Elles ont fait l’Amérique : De remarquables oubliés, tome 1 with her husband Serge Bouchard. The book is a compilation of 15 biographies of women in North America who are not popularly known about[9] and inspired by an Ici Radio-Canada Première radio show called De remarquables oubliés.[10] In 2012, Lévesque's husband Serge Bouchard was invited by the Essipit Band Council to write the history of the Innu people and Lévesque accompanied her husband to co-write and edit the work. While with the Innu people she was inspired by her husband to appreciate the Indigenous community and the nature around them.[5] The writings were released as an essay in 2017 called Le peuple rieur. Hommage à mes amis innus[6] and received the Le Prix Victor-Barbeau award.[2][11] It was also the 27th bestselling book in Quebec independent bookstores in 2018.[12] Personal life and deathLévesque adopted a child from China with her partner Serge Bouchard in 2003.[13] She had a daughter named Lou.[4] Lévesque died on 16 July 2020 of brain cancer.[4] At the time of her death she was preparing to publish a poetry collection.[5] Writing styleIn describing her writing style, Lévesque said, "I am literary, minimalist."[a][5] When describing Elles ont fait l'Amérique, Laurence Clerfeuille said the writing was, "Dense, meticulous, sometimes moving, the stories skillfully combine romantic and socio-historical elements."[b] However, "A reader not accustomed to the historical context may perhaps get lost at times in certain incidental information."[c][7] Michel Lapierre of Le Devoir, when describing Ils ont couru l’Amérique, said that Lévesque and Serge Bouchard, "share an admirable talent for storytelling."[d][9] InfluenceIn 2020 Alexandre Castonguay, Patrice Dubois and Soleil Launière created a theatrical show called Courir l'Amérique based on Lévesque's books Elles ont fait l’Amérique and Ils ont couru l’Amérique. The artists toured their production across Canada.[14][15] List of worksCo-written with Serge Bouchard
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