author
Pamphile Lemay
1837–1918
A major figure in 19th-century French-Canadian literature, this Quebec writer helped bring both poetry and storytelling to a wide audience. He is especially remembered for his long career as a poet, novelist, translator, and for shaping literary life in Quebec through his work as a librarian.
2 Audiobooks
Picounoc le maudit
by Pamphile Lemay
L'affaire Sougraine
by Pamphile Lemay
About the author
Born in Lotbinière, Lower Canada, on January 5, 1837, Pamphile Le May became one of Quebec’s best-known men of letters. Over the course of a long career, he worked as a lawyer, writer, translator, and librarian, and he signed his name in different forms before settling on Le May.
He wrote poetry, novels, tales, and essays, and was known for a style that often drew on rural life, memory, and French-Canadian culture. He also translated important English-language works into French, which helped widen their reach for readers in Quebec.
Le May served as the first librarian of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1867 to 1892, giving him an important place in the province’s cultural history as well as its literary one. He died on June 11, 1918, and is still remembered as one of the prolific voices of his era.