Serge Patrice Thibodeau

1959-

Serge Patrice Thibodeau (poet and essayist) was born on 11 August 1959, in Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick. After studying at the Saint-Louis University Center (University of Moncton, Edmundston campus) and at Laval University, he completed a master's degree in Literary Studies (1996) at the University of Quebec in Montreal. Thibodeau is an author of books of poetry, travelogues and essays. In 1986 he moved to Montreal but returned to New Brunswick in 2005 to direct the Éditions Perce-Neige in Moncton.  He has received several prizes for his books, including the Prix France-Acadie (1991), the Émile-Nelligan Prize (1992), the Edgar-Lespérance Prize (1994), the Grand Prix of the Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival,  the Governor General's Literary Award (1996 and 2007), and the Prix Éloizes (2001). In 2014, Thibodeau was named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic. Thibodeau was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2015.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Moncton

Archival Material

• Fonds Serge Patrice Thibodeau
  ⌄
  Location

  Library and Archives Canada

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  R11817-0-3-F, LMS-0250

  Date Range of Material

  1976-2002

  Extent

  2.57 m of textual documents and other

  Scope and Content Note

  Fonds consists of Serge Patrice Thibodeau’s miscellaneous writings produced between 1976 and 2002. It consists of nine series: 1. Poetry; 2. Tests; 3. Texts published in journals; 4. Texts of youth, unpublished and university works; 5. Notebooks and diaries; 6. Professional activities; 7. Correspondence; 8. Translations and writings on the work of Serge Patrice Thibodeau; 9. Amnesty International. The documents in this collection reveal the working methods of Serge Patrice Thibodeau and testify to the evolution of his writing and his approach as a writer, over a period of twenty years, from his punk/new wave period of the early 1980s to that of his spiritual quest which gave rise to the works of the 1990s. Fonds includes numerous states of manuscripts of the ten main collections of poetry published by Thibodeau: La Septième chute (1990), Le Cycle de Prague (1992), Le Passage des glaces (1992), We, the stranger (1995), The Wandering Quartet followed by The Crossing of the Desert (1995), Nocturnes (1997), In the City followed by Pacífica (1997) , Le Roseau (1997 and 2000), Thresholds (2002), From the top of my tree (2002). Also includes several unpublished works of youth, some of which are written in English; oratorio librettos; unique books written and bound by the author; unpublished scholarly work; and the first versions of the screenplay for the film Le Désir et l'Argile produced in collaboration with the filmmaker of Iraqi origin Baz Shamoun in 1997. The collection also brings together several files testifying to the participation of Thibodeau in literary events and cultures in Canada and Quebec as well as in France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It includes press kits relating to his publications, correspondence with publishing houses, organizations, and personalities from the political and cultural world, as well as personal correspondence. The collection also contains files that reflect the importance of Thibodeau's commitment to Amnesty International. There are also manuscripts of two essays by Thibodeau, "The Call of the Words: Reading of Saint-Denys Garneau" and "The Disgrace of Humanity: Essay on Torture", and some versions four short essays published in periodicals or exhibition catalogues: "Illuminations, Acadian Pride Now Gives Itself Airs of Internationalism"; "Freedom of expression"; and "Acadian Poetry". There are also manuscripts of Writing against Writing on (of self-censorship). Finally, the fonds includes some forty notebooks in which are recorded preliminary notes and the first versions of certain works by Thibodeau, especially poems. These notebooks also contain intimate writings, prayers in French and Arabic, travel diaries, reading notes, account statements, travel budgets and entries on the daily, professional, cultural, and social life of Thibodeau.