Margot Lemire

Marguerite "Margot" Lemire (17 December 1946 – 10 March 2024) was a Canadian writer, poet, and playwright.^[1]

Margot Lemire
Lemire in 2017
Born	Marguerite Lemire (1946-12-17)17 December 1946 Poularies, Quebec, Canada
Died	10 March 2024(2024-03-10) (aged 77) Amos, Quebec, Canada
Occupation(s)	Poet Playwright

Biography

Born in Poularies on 17 December 1946, Lemire taught French in secondary school before becoming a union activist.^[2] She was also a lecturer at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue. After fifteen years of teaching, she devoted herself to writing and social work.^[3] She became general director of the Corporation de développement communautaire d’Amos-région and worked at the Conseil régional de développement de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue.^[4][5] In 2002, she sat on the implementation committee of the Réseau livre savoir.^[6] She published three collections of poetry as well as several theatre pieces and various books.^[2] She took part in poetry readings in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and attended the Salon du livre de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue [fr].^[7]

Lemire moved to La Motte, where her community involvement included the foundation of the cultural organization La Pariole in 1994. The following year, she co-founded Show de La Motte.^[8] She continued writing her texts and poems throughout the next decades.^[9][10] A tribute was paid to her at the 25th edition of the Show de La Motte in April 2023.^[11] In 2012, her text, titled La Motte, mon village en Abitibi, won the first edition of the Mon village, c’est le meilleur! competition, organized by the magazine Vivre à la campagne.^[12] In April 2023, the Ensemble Aiguebelle organized a concert titled Les Chants de mes déparlures inspired by her works.^[13][14][15]

Margot Lemire died in Amos on 10 March 2024, at the age of 77.^[16]

Works

Poetry

• Déparlures (1986)
• La Porte intime
• Mon cœur jamais (1990)^[2]
• La Semeuse de perles (2017)^[17][18][19]

Chronicles

• Les Mots qu’on relit (1989)

Collective works

• Nos Saisons (2011)
• Contes, légendes et récits de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue (2012)
• Amos littéraire, un parfum de centenaire (2014)^[20]

Theatre pieces

• Lover time (1980)
• Les malheureuses (1985)
• La terre n'est que le chemin (2002)^[21]

Other texts

• Comme un vol d’outardes vers l’an 2000 (1990)^[22]
• Les 100 ans du Steinway (2006)^[23]
• La Motte, mon village en Abitibi (2014)^[12]

Awards

• Prix littéraire de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue [fr] (1989)^[2]
• Prix reconnaissance Thérèse-Pagé (2004)^[24]
• Honorary member, Conseil de la culture de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue [fr] (2014)^[2]
• Honors from the National Assembly of Quebec from François Gendron (2017)^[25]