La rage d'écrire : Jacques Godbout

Journalist Jean Antoine meets Jacques Godbout, one of the leading young Canadian writers of the 1960s. He was fighting a twofold battle: to be heard by an international audience and to write in French - not an easy task on a continent dominated by English. We meet him in Montreal, where he lives and works. Jacques Godbout talks about his revolt against his education, his studies at a Jesuit college, his classical humanities and university. He talks about his years in Ethiopia, the growing awareness of the French community, and his work at the National Film Board. He compares cinema and literature, and the influence of cinema. He talks about his career as a painter, and the importance of poetry for the new generation of writers (a means of struggle, discovery of the French language, ease of expression). This episode also includes an interview with Michèle Lalonde, a poet; Paul Chamberlain, a young poet, essayist and journalist; and Charles Taylor, an English-speaking university professor.