Gaston Miron is an important Quebec poet and publisher. He is renowned for his commitment to social causes in Quebec. He also had a marked influence during the Quiet Revolution.
He was one of the six co-founders of the first Quebec poetry publishing house, Éditions de l'Hexagone.
His poetry collection, L'homme rapaillé, has sold over 100,000 copies, making him one of the most widely read authors in Quebec literature. The collection has been translated into several languages, including Italian, English, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian and Spanish.
As a recognized activist for social and independence causes in Quebec, he was arrested and imprisoned without trial during the October Crisis. He was released a week later.
On his death, he was the only writer to receive a state funeral.
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1928: Gaston Miron is born on January 8 in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts.
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1950: He publishes his first poems in the dailies Le devoir, Liberté and Parti pris.
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1953: He publishes the poetry collection Deux sangs with Éditions de l'Hexagone.
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1953: Gaston Miron, along with five others, founds Éditions de l'Hexagone, specializing in poetry. He will be its director for 30 years.
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1959-1960: Gaston Miron receives a Canada Council grant to study publishing in France.
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1970: He publishes the first edition of his collection L'homme rapaillé with Presses de l'Université de Montréal and receives the France-Canada literary prize.
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1970: He is imprisoned following publication of his collection L'homme rapaillé.
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1971: He receives the City of Montreal Literary Award for L'homme rapaillé.
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1975: His poetry collection Courtepointes is published by Éditions de l'Université d'Ottawa.
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1981: He receives the Guillaume-Apollinaire Prize for L'homme rapaillé.
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1991: Awarded Medal of the Académie des lettres du Québec and the Prix de l'Ordre des francophones d'Amérique.
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1993: He receives the Le Signet d'Or award in the Outreach abroad category.
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1995: Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic and honorary doctorate (honoris causa) from University of Montreal.
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1996: He becomes an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
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1996: Gaston Miron dies on December 14 in Montreal.
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2003: A collection of poetry entitled Poèmes épars is published by Éditions de l'Hexagone.
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2004: A collection of poetry entitled Un long chemin (d'autres proses) is published by Éditions de l'Hexagone, 2004.