Martine Noël-Maw: a Quebec writer in Saskatchewan

When I arrived in Saskatchewan it wasn't long before I linked up to the french community. It is odd that so many people are not aware of that community. I have met a lot of people in Saskatchewan who don't know about the Fransaskois and probably even more in Quebec despite the fact that they share the same language.
That said, I would like to introduce a great writer from that community. Her name is Martine Noël-Maw. I heard about her for the first time at a community dinner. A man, let's name him John, told me about her novel Dans le pli des collines (In the Fold of the Hills). The story is set at Fort San and he was very proud that a novel about his beloved region had been published. It sounded like just that would have been enough to make it one of his favorites but on top of that John assured me that it is a great story.

Martine Noël-Maw reading a passage of
Dans le pli des collines at St-Denis (a town near Saskatoon)

I love a good novel and that was a great opportunity to integrate my passion into my part time job. At the time, I was writing  articles for the french newspaper l'Eau vive as a freelance. An article about a local writer was perfect. I will let you discover the book on your own. All I will say is that Sophie, the main character, will make many shocking discoveries as she tries to unearth the past of Fort San. Not long after my review of the book was published in the newspaper, Martine won le Prix du livre français au Saskatchewan Book Awards 2010 for Dans le pli des collines.
I had the chance to meet her for an interview. While we were talking over a cup of coffee and a bagel, she taught me two very down to earth but nonetheless very important lessons. If you don't clear up your schedule you will never write and if you don't have the courage to take the manuscript out of the drawer you will never be published.
Another lesson has been how a place can shape you as an artist. Martine claims that if she hadn't moved to Saskatchewan in 1993, she would probably not be a writer today. Saskatchewan's landscapes are an inspiration. When she drove down Qu'Appelle Valley for the first time, her stories found a place in which to live.

I invite you to visit Martine's website. It includes an english section.
http://www.martinenoelmaw.com/

For all the Montréalais who might be reading this: I know that you think the bagels in Regina are not "real bagels" but that's how they call them here!

Anglin Lake

For my first post, I thought that I would start with explaining my choice of background for the blog.
As of september first 2011, I have been in Saskatchewan for one year. More precisely, I have been in its capital, Regina. As impressive as the Plains are they don't feel like home. I come from a region in Quebec that is full of small mountains. Each mountain is covered with majestic trees. I never feel better than when I am in a forest. I simply love trees. In my childhood, I have spent hours at a time observing the thick bark of a tree.
This summer I was lucky enough to become friend with a young singer who was raised in the same region than me but whose parents are originally from Saskatchewan. His father's side of the family owns a farm near Willow Bunch. In this way I had the privilege of exploring "the land of the coulees" like his family calls it. It is a very beautiful land. I like what Connie Kaldor wrote about this specific region in her song A Long, Long way: "where the trees aren't majestic, they leave that to the sky." I think that it is a very fitting description. All this to say that despite of how much I liked that place, it didn't bring that feeling of home, the feeling of being where you should be.
That same friend also has family at Anglin Lake. This is a lake about an hour north of the city of  Prince-Albert. We went there at the end of the summer. And there they were... the trees. I was overjoyed to walk in between them and to smell their bark.  I told my friend how happy I was to be around trees but that they didn't have the same beauty and majesty than those in Quebec.
During a walk we came where that background picture was taken. I tried to take a picture. I will be honest, my attempts did not look good. I was annoyed. I have that problem ever since I came to Saskatchewan. My landscapes look awful. This is the first time that happens to me. I love photography and have always been proud of my results. So far in Saskatchewan I concentrated my efforts on portraits because landscapes just didn't work.
Seeing my frustration, my friend simply said: "Why don't you change your perspective. Sometimes that's all it takes." I listened to his advice and at the cost of getting wet I lied down on the dock and took a picture. That is the one I chose for my blog. Changing perspective just suddenly made everything in the landscape work.
I realized that maybe it is not only with photography that I have to change my perspective to make things work. Anglin Lake has taught me to accept my presence in Saskatchewan's landscapes.