98-year-old Janette Bertrand is honored that the Montreal Book Fair has created a literary prize that bears her name. “Especially because all my life I was snubbed by writers and intellectuals who said I wasn’t a real writer,” says the woman, who admits to having a brush with death last year.
A year ago, Janette Bertrand almost died when she choked on a piece of bread. Luckily, a man who was there at the time of the incident saved his life by performing the correct medical maneuver.
“Every day I prevent death,” explains Janette Bertrand in an interview with Journal at the Montreal Book Fair. “But I am not dead and life keeps me alive. I want to use the time I have left to continue to make a difference.”
Even if the great lady does not know whether she will be part of the jury of this prize named after her in 2024, she does know one thing: at 98 years old and after publishing a dozen works, it was time for her work and her Contributions as author are underlined.
Finally recognition
“At 98 years old, we finally realize that I did something. It’ll come later and I’ll take it. I’m not bitter at all. I had to prove myself,” says the artist, who will be at the Montreal Book Fair this weekend.
She is flattered that this award is specifically dedicated to people who have used the power of words to advance society. What she has done all her life.
Janette Bertrand also enjoys taking part in a conversation with the Innu poet Josephine Bacon on Saturday evening at the book fair.
What do you think the two great writers have in common? “Life experience and hindsight. We never ask old people to tell the story of their lives, and yet we have so much to tell,” says the author of “My Life in Three Acts,” born in 1925.
Janette Bertrand is aware that there are still many taboos and needs for improvement in our society (especially with regard to equality between men and women), and expresses a wish for the future: “I hope that we continue the fight in my place “When I” am no longer here.