From Montreal to Paris, Mavis Gallant's unwavering determination to be a writer

Mavis Gallant’s unwavering determination to be a writer

27 days ago

Duration 9:35

Montreal illustrator Arizona O'Neill depicts the story of renowned short story writer Mavis Gallant. For most of her adult years, Gallant lived in solitude in a modest Paris apartment, where she crafted her short stories. These stories would eventually be compiled into celebrated collections.

This video was produced by Arizona O'Neill as part of the CBC Creator Network. Learn more about the Creator Network here.

Growing up in Montreal as an aspiring creative, Mavis Gallant was a literary guidepost for illustrator Arizona O'Neill and many others. As part of CBC's Creator Network, O'Neill shares how Gallant achieved her dreams despite societal pushback.

O'Neill is a Montreal-based writer and illustrator. She has published the illustrated book Est-ce qu'un artiste peut être heureux? and illustrated for books like Hoop Muses by Kate Fagan and Seimone Augustus. O'Neill is currently writing a graphic memoir.

• 30 facts you might not know about the renowned short story writer Mavis Gallant

Gallant was a writer born in Montreal who lived alone in a small Paris apartment for the majority of her adult life, typing out her short stories, most of which she sent to be published in The New Yorker, to pay her rent. These stories would later be turned into acclaimed collections. She published two novels, Green Water, Green Sky and A Fairly Good Time, a play and over 100 short stories in her life. She died in Paris in 2014 at the age of 91.

A collection of Mavis Gallant's early journalism, titled Montreal Standard Time, was published in August 2024.

• 54 works of Canadian nonfiction to check out this fall

Because Gallant is widely associated with Paris, it took a while for Montrealers to acknowledge her as one of our own. But the truth is, her story begins in Montreal.

Mavis Leslie de Trafford Young was born in Montreal in August of 1922. 

Follow O'Neill as she breaks down Gallant's childhood, and the path that ultimately led to her success. From her beginnings as an ignored child in a Montreal boarding school, to being played by Frances McDormand in a Wes Anderson film. 

Witness Gallant's determination to become a writer despite being a woman in the 1950s and the type of lifestyle that she sought out in order to achieve these goals.