Robert Choquette

Choquette, Robert
Robert Choquette, poet, novelist, playwright (b at Manchester, NH 22 Apr 1905; d 22 Jan 1991). His family moved to Montréal in 1914, where he did his classical studies at Collège Saint-Laurent (1917-21) and Loyola College (1921-26). At 20, he published his first poetry collection, À travers les vents, winning the Prix David (1926). His first novel, La Pension Leblanc, appeared in 1927. After working a few months on the newspaper the Montreal Gazette, he became literary director of La Revue moderne (1928). Two years later, he became secretary-librarian for the École des beaux-arts de Montréal. The appearance of Metropolitan Museum (1931) won critical approval.

That same year the poet began a career as a radio novelist, scriptwriter and producer which lasted more than 30 years. His greatest successes, Le Curé de village (1935-38), La Pension Velder (1938-42) and Métropole (1943-56), place him among Québec's most prolific radio writers. Several of his TV pieces (Quatuor, La Pension Velder and some TV plays) aired on the French channel of Radio-Canada (1955-75).

But he kept on writing: Poésies nouvelles (1933), Suite marine (1953) and Oeuvres poétiques (1956) won him the title (1961) "prince of poets" from the Société des poètes canadiens-français. In 1963, he became assistant commissioner of the Commission du centenaire canadien. The next year he was named Canadian consul-general to Bordeaux, then ambassador to Argentina (1968). Member of several literary societies, including the Académie canadienne-française from its founding, he won many awards for his poetry and novels, including 3 Prix David (1926, 1932, 1956), the poetry prize of the Académie française (1954), the Prix Duvernay (1954), the Prix Edgar Poe (1956) and the Prix international des amitiés françaises (1962).

Author KENNETH LANDRY