Suzanne Aubry (born 1956) is a Canadian novelist, screenwriter and playwright from Montreal.[1]
Suzanne Aubry was born in Ottawa. Both parents, Claude Aubry and Paule Saint-Onge, were novelists. She graduated in playwriting from the National Theatre School of Canada and, in 1987, her play La nuit des p'tits couteaux was nominated for a Governor General's Award. Suzanne Aubry wrote the screenplay for the 1994 feature film Meurtre en musique, directed by Gabriel Pelletier. With Louise Pelletier, she wrote the screenplays for three prime time television series: Sauve qui peut! (TVA), À nous deux! and Mon meilleur ennemi (Radio-Canada). Prior to this, she contributed episodes of Manon [2] which was aired on Radio-Canada, and La Maison Deschênes, the first fiction series aired on Télévision Quatre Saisons (TQS).
As a critic and columnist, Suzanne Aubry has contributed to Le Devoir and the Cahiers de théâtre Jeu. She has taught playwriting at the Institut national de l'image et du son (INIS), the Université du Québec à Montréal and the National Theatre School of Canada. She was the President of the Société des auteurs en cinéma et télévision (SARTEC) from 1996 to 2000.
In 2006, Suzanne Aubry published her first novel, Le fort intérieur, which was nominated for the Grand prix de la relève littéraire Archambault. Since then, she has written an historical series, Fanette, revolving around an Irish orphan exiled to 19th century Quebec.[3] The series of 7 volumes has sold more than 100,000 copies [4] and the first two volumes of Fanette are available in English in digital format.
The author's ninth novel, Ma vie est entre tes mains, was published in 2015 by Libre Expression.[5] The French publisher Robert Laffont purchased the rights to the book, which was published in France under the title Ma vie entre tes mains in 2016. It was then nominated for the Prix des cinq continents de la francophonie 2016, presided over by the writer J. M. G. Le Clézio. Ma vie entre tes mains was also published by Pocket in a paperback format in 2018. Aubry has since written two other novels, Je est une autre and La Cueva (Éditions Libre Expression), both well received by the readers and the media.
Following in her father's footsteps, Suzanne Aubry recently adapted his book Le Violon magique et autres légendes du Canada français (originally published in 1968 by les Éditions Des deux Rives). This new edition is entitled Le Violon magique - Contes et légendes du Québec and published by Les Éditions Québec Amérique in 1019. It features the beautiful illustrations by the artist Saul Field, which were a part of the 1968 edition.
Suzanne Aubry has completed a play for the theatre, Recyclage, which has been refined in a workshop organized by the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) with the collaboration of the director Marie Charlebois, and the actress Évelyne Rompré. The author has also written her first children's novel, Le Septième étage et demi, about Camille, a 13 years' old teenager who loses her mother from leukemia, and tries to cope with her loss. The book, superbly illustrated by Delphie Côté-Lacroix, was published by les Éditions Québec Amérique in 2022. Since, the book was nominated for the prestigious Tamarac/Tree of books Award, organized by the Association des bibliothèques de l'Ontario (ABO).
In 2021, Suzanne Aubry revisited her popular historical series Fanette. The first book, Fanette - La suite - Amitiés particulières, was published by Les Éditions Libre Expression in 2021. The second and third books, Fanette - La suite - Aveux and Fanette - La suite - Un monde nouveau- were published in 2022 by Libre Expression. All three volumes are available in audio format (Vues et Voies). Her new novel, Le Portrait, a psychological thriller, will be available in August 2023.
Suzanne Aubry has been a member of the board of directors of the Union des Écrivaines et des Écrivains québécois (UNEQ) since 2011 and the Chair of UNEQ from May 2017 to May 2023. She was also the President of the la Société des scénaristes en télévision, radio et cinéma (SARTEC) from 1996 to 2000. She received the Order of Canada in 2022 for her contribution to Quebec literature, and her engagement defending the rights of writers.