In Little Red Berries, a poetic novel of dreams and interior drama, we meet Solange Therrien, an insecure college literature instructor. Set in Montreal on the verge of the new millennium, the reader meets a colourful cast of characters as Solange comes to terms with relationships past and present. Her family, her students, her lovers are portrayed with warmth and humour in this intelligent novel of the heart, from one of Quebec's most esteemed authors. Solange's trials while teaching a course in Quebec literature are the framework for her fears and recollections, and also offer the reader insight into the leading texts of Quebecois writing. An insightful commentary on the complexity of contemporary Quebec, Little Red Berries stirs the heart and nourishes the mind.

Yolande Villemaire is one of Quebec’s most prolific writers, proficient in both poetry and prose. She has given poetry readings and performances around the world. Her novel La vie en prose won an award from the Journal de Montreal in 1980 and her poems, L’armoure received a Radio-Canada award in 2002. She also received a Quebec-Mexico poetry prize in 2008 and the Career Award from Quebec’s Council of Arts and Letters in 2009. Also in 2009, she was a guest of honor at the Festival de la Poésie de Montréal. She has published more than twenty-five books, four of which are available in English translation from Ekstasis Editions: Midnight Tides of Amsterdam, Poets & Centaurs, India, India and Little Red Berries. Yolande Villemaire lives in Montreal and is the director of TOTEMPOÉSIE.

Yolande Villemaire's profile page

Leonard Sugden's profile page