DANIEL POLIQUIN. Raised in his hometown of Ottawa, Daniel Poliquin has maintained a lifelong interest in language and literature. His education certainly attest to this: he holds Masters degrees in both German and Comparative Literature, and a doctorate in French Literature.

One of Canada's leading French-language novelists, Daniel has won distinction for his faithful and arguably parallel depiction of personal and social relationships. Some of his earlier works include Temps pascal (1982), L'Obumsawin and Nouvelles de la capitale (both 1987). His Visions de Jude (1990) garnered a number of awards, including the Grand Prix Litteraire de Journal de Montreal.

Daniel's work also includes notable translations into French. Among them are two novels by Jack Kerouac (Pic and The Town and the City ); work by W. O. Mitchell (Ladybug, Ladybug ); and a Matt Cohen anthology of short fiction.

Among Daniel's recent writings is L'Ecureuil noir (1994); Black Squirrel (1995), a Governor General's Award nominee. It was acclaimed widely as the French-Canadian literary event of 1994. The novel's comic yet seductive narrative is attributed to its hero's honest manner as he describes his life story amid a modern setting.

Daniel currently lives in Ottawa. When not writing fiction he makes his living as a parliamentary interpreter and a part-time professor of translation at the University of Ottawa.

Reading: Poliquin, Black Squirrel (Douglas & McIntyre: 1994); Visions of Jude (D. & M. : 1990); Pierre Hebert, "Literature: French; Canada," (Britannica: 1995).