Yves Beauchemin

Yves Beauchemin OQ (born 26 June 1941) is a Quebec novelist.

Born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec and raised in the village of Clova, Beauchemin received his degree in French literature and art history at the Université de Montréal in 1965. He taught literature at the Collège Garneau and Université Laval. Beauchemin was working as an editor in a Montreal publishing firm when he began contributing essays and stories to magazines and newspapers. In 1969 he accepted a position as a researcher at Radio-Québec.

Beauchemin's first novel, L'enfirouapé (1974), won the Prix France-Québec. His second novel, Le Matou (1981), became the all-time best-selling novel in French Quebec literature and has been translated into seventeen languages. This book won the Prix de la ville de Montreal and the Prix du livre de l'ete Cannes in 1982. Beauchemin won the Prix Jean Giono for his third novel, Juliette Pormerleau (1989).

In his fiction Beauchemin is a detached but caring observer of the contemporary world around him. The panoramic canvases of his novels capture the teeming life of the streets, reflecting their author's appreciation of such great nineteenth-century writers as Balzac, Dickens, Dostoevsky and Gogol.

On October 28, 2003 Yves Beauchemin was appointed Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec. There were 29 individuals chosen that year, including 5 Grand Officers, 7 Officers, and 17 Knights.

In 2006 he published his novel "Les Empouchers."

Mr. Beauchemin's latest novel is Une nuit de tempête, 2023.

Seven of Yves Beauchemin's books have been translated into English. They include "The Alley Cat" (Le matou), "Juliette" (Juliette Pomerleau), "The Second Fiddle" (Le second violon), Charles the Bold (Charles le téméraire: Un temps du chien, Part 1), "The Years of Fire" (Charles le téméraire: Un temps du chien, Part 2), "A Very Bold Leap" (Un saut dans le vide), and "The Accidental Education of Jerome Lupien" (Les Empouchers). The final book of the Charles the Bold trilogy, "Parti pour la gloire" was never published in English. The English books versions were planned as a quartet as in English "Un temps du chien" was split into two books.[10][11]

He resides in Longueuil, Quebec.