Internationally celebrated Canadian writer Mavis Gallant died Tuesday morning (February 18) in Paris, where she made her home since 1951. She was 91.
She was “by far the most cosmopolitan of our writers” wrote author and editor Robert Fulford in the National Post newspaper. “She was literature’s tireless chronicler of dispossession. Her characters were evicted, expelled, expropriated and otherwise moved from their homes.”
“Mavis Gallant was a wonderful writer, a sharp observer of human nature, a formidable conversationalist, and an indomitable spirit who made her own way, often uphill,” said Canadian writer Margaret Atwood in a statement. “She was funny, quirky, and prickly if you crossed her, but kind underneath it, especially to underdogs. Her unique voice will be much missed.”
Gallant was born in Montreal in 1922. As a journalist she worked for the Montreal Standard newspaper, and in 1944 published her first short stories in a small circulation magazine in Montreal called Preview. Later many of her short stories first appeared in The New Yorker.
Gallant is known for collections such as Montreal Stories, Going Ashore and 1981’s Home Truths, which earned her a Governor General’s Literary Award.
More information:
CBC News – Mavis Gallant, short story maven, dies at 91 – here
National Post/Robert Fulford – Mavis Gallant dead at 91: An appreciation of the Canadian literary great – here
Toronto Star – Mavis Gallant, legendary short story writer, dies at 91 – here
FlavorWire/Michelle Dean – An Appreciation of the Under-appreciated Mavis Gallant – here
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