Background
Gaston Miron was born on January 8, 1928, in Sainte-agathe-des-monts, Quebec, Canada. He is the son of Charles-Auguste and Jeanne Michaudville Miron.
2900 Boulevard Edouard-Montpetit, Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
Gaston took courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Montreal, but never earned a degree.
18 Boulevard Auguste Blanqui, 75013 Paris, France
From 1959 to 1960 Gaston studied graphic arts at l'Ecole Estienne, Paris, France.
Canada
Gaston Miron
Canada
Gaston Miron
Canada
Gaston Miron
Canada
Gaston Miron
Canada
Gaston Miron
Gaston Miron was born on January 8, 1928, in Sainte-agathe-des-monts, Quebec, Canada. He is the son of Charles-Auguste and Jeanne Michaudville Miron.
Gaston studied at a Brothers of the Sacred Heart boarding school near Granby in Montérégie. Later he took courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Montreal, but never earned a degree. From 1959 to 1960 he studied graphic arts at l'Ecole Estienne, Paris, France.
Nineteen-year old Miron moved to Montreal in 1947. He worked for a time as an organizer and leader of the Catholic youth organization, l'Order du bon temps. With Gilles Carle, Olivier Marchand, and others, Miron founded the publishing house Les Editions de l'Hexagone in 1953. He and Marchand produced the poetry volume Deux Sangs that same year. Hexagone's editorial line was to establish a "national literature" and put an end to the "poet's alienation" in the society of the time. Miron quickly signed young and innovative poets like Jean-Guy Pilon and Fernand Ouellette, thus prolonging the efforts of the modernists of the immediately preceding generation like Alain Grandbois, Paul-Marie Lapointe and Roland Giguère, who had released their first books before the Hexagone's founding and would later join its roster of authors.
From 1953 until the end of the decade, Miron worked at the Beauchemin Bookstore and other book related jobs in Montreal. In his off hours, he read manuscripts and handled the correspondence for his publishing company. In addition, Miron wrote poetry, which he occasionally published in newspapers like Le Devoir, and sometimes left in his drawer, waiting for the right word or phrase to come to mind, as he sought to perfect them.
Miron lived in Paris, France in 1959 and 1960, studying and familiarizing himself with French literature. Upon his return to Montreal, Miron became a prominent literary figure through his poetry, attracting the attention of readers and other poets. Miron was a central force in the journal Liberté and in the magazine Parti Pris, and in the social and literary movements surrounding the latter publication. In 1970 he gained even more public attention when he was arrested during the October Crisis, a period of great Québécois sentiment and political unrest in Quebec. After Miron’s arrest, his supporters mounted a campaign on his behalf and the journal La Barre du Jour dedicated a special edition to him. Miron was later released. He won a number of awards during this period, including the Prix de la Revue Etudes Françaises and the Prix France-Canada. In addition to serving as a writer-in-residence and professor at universities, Miron has served as a book fair representative, given a number of lectures and readings, appeared on television and radio programs, and contributed to periodicals.
Miron was a member of Ordre du Bon Temps.
Quotes from others about the person
"He is Miron the Magnificent in acknowledgement of his contribution to French Canadian literature and political ideology. Miron is widely known as a speaker in both formal and informal settings. His study and discussion of past traditions help him to connect with contemporary audiences, both in person and in print." - Jacques Brault