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Susan Ouriou

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Susan Ouriou
Born
Susan Muir

(1955-07-15) 15 July 1955 (age 69)
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Occupation(s)Writer, Translator, Editor

Susan Ouriou (born 15 July 1955) is a Canadian fiction writer, literary translator and editor.

Career

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Ouriou, née Muir, was born in Red Deer, Alberta and raised in Calgary, Alberta and pursued her studies in France, Spain, Quebec and Mexico, obtaining a bachelor's degree in applied foreign languages and a masters in translation studies. She has worked as a fiction writer, literary translator and editor and was one of the co-founders of the Banff International Literary Translation Centre at the Banff Centre, where she also served for three years as the BILTC's director.

Ouriou has worked as a interpreter in a variety of capacities, including with The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Awards

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The Thirteenth Summer, her translation of José Luis Olaizola's Planicio, was a finalist for the John Glassco Translation Prize in 1994.[1]

Pieces of Me, Ouriou's translation of Charlotte Gingras' La liberté? Connais pas, won the Governor General's Award for French to English translation at the 2009 Governor General's Awards.[2]

She has been shortlisted for the award six other times, for The Road to Chlifa (Michèle Marineau, La Route de Chlifa) at the 1995 Governor General's Awards,[3] for Necessary Betrayals (Guillaume Vigneault, Chercher le vent) at the 2003 Governor General's Awards,[4] as co-translator with Christelle Morelli of Stolen Sisters: The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families and How Canada Has Failed Indigenous Women (Emmanuelle Walter, Sœurs volées: Enquête sur un féminicide au Canada) at the 2015 Governor General's Awards,[5] for The Lover, the Lake (Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, L'amant du lac) at the 2021 Governor General's Awards,[6] for White Resin (Audrée Wilhelmy, Blanc Résine) at the 2022 Governor General's Awards,[7] and for Kukum (Michel Jean) at the 2023 Governor General's Awards.[8]

Ouriou and Morelli also jointly won a Libris Award in 2014 for Jane, the Fox and Me, their translation of Fanny Britt's Jane, le renard et moi.[9]

One of her many short stories, "Violette Bicyclette" (Alberta Views, 2008) won the Western Canadian Magazines Association fiction award and her first novel Damselfish was short-listed for the Writers Guild of Alberta's Georges Bugnet Fiction Award and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize.[10] Several of her short stories have been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch and Bulgarian.

In 2010, Ouriou was appointed a Chevalier in France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of her commitment to La Francophonie through her work as a writer, translator and interpreter.

Bibliography

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Fiction

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  • Damselfish (XYZ Publishing, 2003)[11]
  • Nathan (Red Deer Press, 2016)
  • The Recipe (Loft on Eighth, 2018)
  • The Stuff of Life (Short Édition, 2019)

Translation

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A selected list of Ouriou's translations include:

  • 1993 - The Thirteenth Summer (José Luis Olaizola, Planicio)
  • 1998 - The Road to Chlifa (Michèle Marineau, La Route de Chlifa)
  • 2002 - Necessary Betrayals (Guillaume Vigneault, Chercher le vent)
  • 2009 - Pieces of Me (Charlotte Gingras, La Liberté? Connais pas)
  • 2013 - Jane, the Fox and Me, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Fanny Britt, Jane, le renard et moi)[12][13]
  • 2015 - Stolen Sisters - The Story of Two Missing Girls, Their Families and How Canada Has Failed Indigenous Women and Girls, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Emmanuelle Walter, Sœurs volées - Enquête sur un féminicide au Canada)
  • 2017 - Winter Child, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, L'enfant hiver)
  • 2017 - Louis Undercover, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Fanny Britt, Louis parmi les spectres)
  • 2018 - Ophelia, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Charlotte Gingras, Ophélie)
  • 2019 - The Body of the Beasts (Audrée Wilhelmy, Le Corps des bêtes)
  • 2019 - Blue Bear Woman, a co-translation with Christelle Morelli (Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, Ourse bleue)
  • 2021 - The Lover, the Lake (Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, L'Amant du lac)
  • 2022 - White Resin (Audrée Wilhelmy, Blanc Résine)
  • 2023 - The Future (Catherine Leroux, L'avenir)[14]

Anthologies, Editor

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  • Beyond Words – Translating the World (Banff Centre Press, 2010)
  • Languages of Our Land - Indigenous Poems and Stories from Quebec (Banff Centre Press, 2014)

References

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  1. ^ "Columnist wins translation prize". Montreal Gazette, May 7, 1994.
  2. ^ Volmers, Eric (November 18, 2009). "Calgarian best in literary translation". Calgary Herald. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  3. ^ Gordon Morash, "Edmonton fares well again in Governor General's race; Shortlist also a vindication for beleaguered small presses". Edmonton Journal, October 28, 1995.
  4. ^ Judy Stoffman, "Literary award short list reveals quirky choices; Governor General picks are mostly unexpected titles". Toronto Star, October 21, 2003.
  5. ^ "Cusk a finalist for Governor General's literary Award". Telegraph-Journal, October 8, 2015.
  6. ^ "Ivan Coyote, David A. Robertson & Julie Flett among finalists for $25K Governor General's Literary Awards". CBC Books, October 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "The finalists for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for translation". CBC Books, October 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Suzette Mayr, Iain Reid among finalists for $25K Governor General's Literary Awards". CBC Books, October 25, 2023.
  9. ^ Sue Carter, "Joseph Boyden double winner at Libris Awards". Quill & Quire, June 3, 2014.
  10. ^ "Mitchell Prize finalists named". Calgary Herald, March 19, 2004.
  11. ^ Toub, Micah (October 2003). "Damselfish, by Susan Ouriou". Quill and Quire. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  12. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Taffy (August 23, 2013). "Solitary Creatures". The New York Times. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Goedhart, Bernie (August 30, 2013). "For kids: A sly response to cruelty". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved June 26, 2019.
  14. ^ "The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
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