In Rue Fabre: Centre of the Universe Jean-Claude Germain evokes a Quebec unknown to most English-speaking Canadians.
In the 1940s, for a young boy of Rue Fabre in Montreal's East End, leaving the city constituted a veritable odyssey as he accompanied his father-a salesman of candy and cigarettes-on his rounds to the towns and cities surrounding Montreal. Travelling in his father's truck surrounded by Cherry Blossom chocolates, Lifesavers, maple sugar cones, sugary strawberries, jelly beans and black balls, he discovers a strange and fascinating world, extraordinary individuals, and incredible situations.

Writer, playwright, director, actor, journalist, historian, and critic, Jean-Claude Germain is a Quebec icon. He taught at the National Theatre School of Canada and was artistic director of Théâtre d'aujourd'hui (1972-1982). He was a founding member of VLB Editeur. Well-known for his story telling on the radio, he related the year by year saga of the history of Montreal from 1642 to 1992 at the morning show CBF-Bonjour, the 350 episodes were ultimately published in three volumes as Le Feuilleton de Montréal. He is the author of Rue Fabre ( Vehicule Press, 2012).

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Donald Winkler was born in Winnipeg, graduated from the University of Manitoba, and did graduate study at the Yale School of Drama. From 1967 to 1995 he was a film director and writer at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal, and since the 1980s, a translator of Quebec literature. In 1994, 2011, and 2013 he won the Governor General Award for French to English translation, and has been a finalist for the prize on three other occasions. His translation of Samuel Archibald's short story collection, "Arvida," was a finalist for the 2015 Giller Prize. He lives in Montreal, Quebec.

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