Guest of ilb 2004
“This book is like a dialogue, an open door between our childhood
world and the world of adults. I wanted to let the world be seen
through the eyes of this young girl who wonders about a very simple
experience: existence!” This is what Michèle Lemieux has
to say about her picture book 'Gewitternacht' (Engl: Stormy Night,
1999), which was published in Germany in 1996. The Canadian
illustrator, author, lecturer and director was born in Québec.
After completing a degree in visual arts in Montreal, she
lived in Germany for five years at the end of the 1970’s. Since
1978 she has published fifteen books, which she both illustrated and
wrote. They have been translated, filmed and put on stage in more
than twenty languages.
In 'Gewitternacht', Michèle Lemieux tells the story of a little girl
who is unable to fall asleep during a stormy night and whose head is
swarming with all kinds of thoughts: where does infinity end? Is
there life on other stars? Do I exist only once in the
world? Who is responsible for coincidence? And does dying
hurt? In a silent dialogue with her dog Fido, she searches for
answers to all her questions and ideas. The author’s black and
white ink drawings accompany the little girl’s thoughts about being
beautiful, being heroic and being scared. In 1997 Lemieux
received the prestigious Bologna Ragazzi Award for 'Gewitternacht'.
This thoughtful picture book has been translated into more than
ten languages, and the fourth edition has already been published in
Germany. Lemieux’s cinematic adaptation 'Nuit d’orage' premiered
in 2003 and was screened at the Children’s Film Festival of the 54th Berlinale, where it was awarded the Crystal Bear for best animated short film.
Before 'Gewitternacht' became a picture book it was a sketchbook, in
which the author tried intuitively to grasp the simplicity and
truthfulness of life. She loves authentic books that question the
existential and that deal with universal themes. In her work
Lemieux experiments with watercolours, gouache, acrylic, oils collages
and pen and ink. Her drawings have a timeless-mystic quality that
invites the viewer to dive into the picture and to become a part of the
story. The author has illustrated a number of classical and
modern texts including 'Amahl and the Night Visitors' by Gian Carlo
Menotti (1996) and 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin' (1993). Her
illustrations have been exhibited in New York, Mexico, Tokyo and
Montreal to name but a few. Lemieux has been nominated for the
Governor General’s Award numerous times, and for the Hans Christian
Andersen Award in 2001. After having spent many years abroad, she
now lives in Canada. She devotes her time to illustrative work
and has taught illustration at the Université du Quèbec since 1982.
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