Literature: the 10 editorial favorites in 2021

Literature: the 10 favorites of writing in 2021

Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay

Between two waves of confinement, literature has once again been a buoy rescue this year. Here are the ten most significant books of 2021 according to the Métro team.

Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay's Daughter Herself

Reading a novel has rarely aroused our empathy so much. In this capsizing and luminous autofiction, we dive into the mind of a woman who discovers her transidentity. Thanks to his poetic and visceral writing, we feel all the discomfort that inhabits him over the course of the story, which stretches from childhood to adulthood.
Éditions Marchand de feuilles
Marie-Lise Rousseau

The Where I Land by Caroline Dawson

What a book! What a reading experience! Even though it was quietly released at the end of 2020, it is well and truly in 2021 that the talented Caroline Dawson's debut novel took off. Woven with evocations and cultural landmarks, the story, each page of which is overflowing with humanity, recounts her departure from Chile to escape the dictatorship and her arrival in Quebec as a child.
Editions du Remue-Ménage
Amélie Revert

High demolition by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard

Four in four for the popular author who always hits the nail on the head. Its scathing quill scratches and makes yellow laughter, while being decidedly brilliant and precise. Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard tackles here in the midst of humor and its toxicity, drawing on the expertise and knowledge of actors in the field, in particular comedian Rosalie Vaillancourt.
To the editions of Your mother
Jules Couturier

A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers by Alain Farah

This incredible novel has everything to keep you going: an early marriage, memories that rise to your throat, suspense, intoxicating blue skies, negronis, a lot (too much) of Xanax and unpredictable protagonists ( greetings to cousin Édouard). A tale as thrilling as a towing ride of the Orange Julep at Saint Joseph's Oratory.
Editions du Quartanier
Marie-Lise Rousseau

Firefighters and arsonists by Martine Delvaux

< p>In response to the climate crisis, the author and feminist essayist presented a hot work this fall. Through the absolute figure of fire, she testifies to her daughter's and youth's struggle for a brighter future than predicted. Greta Thunberg, the witches of Salem, the major fires… Martine Delvaux literally sets fire to the powder!
Editions Héliotrope
Amélie Revert

Where I land myself by Caroline Dawson
The daughter of herself by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay
High demolition by Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard
< p>

A thousand secrets, a thousand dangers of Alain Farah
Firefighters and arsonists by Martine Delvaux
Diesel in the veins of Serge Bouchard and Mark Fortier
Nothing at all from Olivia Tapiero
Everything is ori by Paul Serge Forest
Valide de Chis Bergeron
Quebec was born in my country of Emanuelle Dufour

Diesel in the veins of Serge Bouchard and Mark Fortier

A few weeks before his death, the late Serge Bouchard left us this precious essay, an adaptation of his doctoral thesis on truckers, written over 40 years ago. Thanks to his poetic pen, it is absolutely fascinating to immerse oneself in the “completely separate” world of “truckers”.
To LUX
editions Marie-Lise Rousseau

Nothing at all from Olivia Tapiero

Poetry? Test? Story? Everything and nothing at the same time, the fifth book by Olivia Tapiero blurs the tracks. Emptiness, loopholes and silence reign supreme as the words go by, and the reading only becomes more disturbing, memorable. From colonization to sexual violence, the author brilliantly evokes the experienced and embodied traumas of a decomposing body.
To the editions Mémoire encrier
Amélie Revert

Everything is ori by Paul Serge Forest

This first novel is quite a literary UFO! In a fishing village on the North Shore, a revolution based on shellfish and human conscience is brewing. Yes, it's confusing, but once immersed in this magical realism story that shows all the colors – even those that do not exist -, you take pleasure in turning the pages. br> To VLB editions
Marie-Lise Rousseau

Valid by Chris Bergeron

This current and necessary first novel takes us into the head of a woman born in a man's body evolving in a dystopian world, but – alas – not so unbelievable, where there is no place for difference. With her reflections tinged with vulnerability and dotted with pop references, the author captivates us from start to finish.
Editions XYZ
Philippe Lépine

“Quebec was born in my country!” by Emanuelle Dufour

This documentary comic does a useful job of showing what reconciliation should be. By giving voice to several Aboriginals from the four corners of Quebec, anthropologist and illustrator Emanuelle Dufour has created an enlightening work that addresses several facets of relations between peoples, in particular the shame of non-Aboriginals.
Editions Écosociété
Marie-Lise Rousseau

Honorable mentions to…

Woman forest d & rsquo; Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette
The conquest of the cosmos d & rsquo; Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and Francis Desharnais
The shooting shadows by Christian Guay-Poliquin
Pop feminism by Sandrine Galand
Final picture of love by Larry Tremblay
Friday Kamikaze by Amélie Prévost
Les enragé.es by Valérie Bah
Larvae de vie by Christine Gosselin
Bagels by Fanie Demeule, illustrated by Amélie Dubois
Release the panties directed by Gene viève Morand and Natalie-Ann Roy