Raymond Guy Leblanc

1945-

Acadian poet, philosopher, and musician Raymond Guy LeBlanc was born on 24 January 1945 in the village of Saint-Anselme (since incorporated into Dieppe). LeBlanc attended Collège Dominique Savio in Saint-Louis-de-Kent and later Collège l’Assomption in Moncton. LeBlanc enrolled in Université de Moncton, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1966). He spent the 1968-1969 academic year studying in Aix-en-Provence in southern France where he wrote the four-part poem “Petitcodiac.”  Throughout the 1970s, LeBlanc worked with the Association des pêcheurs professionnels acadiens (later the Maritime Fishermen’s Union). It was also during this time that he began giving writing workshops with the Association of Acadian Writers and, since 1994, at l’Université de Moncton. From 1973 on, he gave lectures in Philosophy and French at l’Université de Moncton, completing a Master’s in Philosophy from the same in 1974. LeBlanc’s first book of poetry, Cri de terre (1972), was the first publication of Les Éditions d’Acadie and the first work of poetry published in contemporary Acadia. In Acadie / Expérience (1977), LeBlanc and Jean-Guy Rens brought together traditional Acadian poetry and ballads with the work of the “young poets” of their own generation.  LeBlanc’s second collection of poetry was Chants d’amour et d’espoir (1988). In 1990, selections of LeBlanc’s poetry were included in an anthology of Acadian poetry, Rêves inachevés (published by Éditions d’Acadie and released simultaneously in English by Goose Lane Editions as Unfinished Dreams). His third book of poetry was La mer en feu (1993). He was awarded the Pascal-Poirier Prix d'Excellence en littérature de langue française (1998). Archives de la présence (2005), an anthology of work from LeBlanc’s first four collections, won him the Prix France-Acadie (2006) and the Prix Éloizes de l’Artiste de l’année en littérature (2007). LeBlanc’s poems and articles have been published in literary journals in New Brunswick, Quebec, France, and Belgium. He has also been invited to read at numerous literary events, including the International Poetry Festival in Trois-Rivières (1994, 1998, 2005), Vancouver (Expo 1986), New Orleans (ACSUS Congress in 1993), and the International Book Fair in Brussels in 1994. From 2000 to 2005 he worked on the radio program Trajectories for Radio-Canada Moncton. LeBlanc published Empreintes in 2011. LeBlanc served as development officer for the Société des Acadiens et des Acadiennes du Nouveau-Brunswick from 2002 to 2007.  Leblanc passed away 28 October 2021.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Moncton

Archival Material

• Fonds Raymond Guy LeBlanc
  ⌄
  Location

  Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  688

  Date Range of Material

  1973

  Extent

  1 cm of textual records

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists of a text submitted to the newspaper L'Évangéline in response to an article published in the same newspaper by Fernand Mattart and dealing with the economy and society.