{{Short description|French playwright, writer, and artist}} {{Infobox writer | image = GaelOctavia.png | genre = [[Theatre]], [[Literature]], [[Visual Art]] | signature = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1977|12|29|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Fort de France]], [[Martinique]] | language = [[French language|French]] | notable_works = *''Congre et homard'' (Play, 2012) *''Cette guerre que nous n'avons pas faite'' (Play, 2014) *''La fin de Mame Baby'' (Novel, 2017) *''La bonne histoire de Madeleine Démétrius'' (Novel, 2020) | occupation = Writer, playwright | nationality = }} '''Gaël Octavia''' (born 29 December 1977 in Fort-de-France, Martinique), is a French writer and playwright. She is also a film director and painter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matrimoine: Gael Octavia (Martinique) |url=https://matrimoine.art/bio/gael-octavia/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601232419/https://matrimoine.art/bio/gael-octavia/ |archive-date=2021-06-01 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Matrimoine |language=fr}}</ref>

== Biography == Gaël Octavia grew up on a council estate in [[Schœlcher]], where she was greatly influenced by her parents. Her mother would tell the story of Octavia's grandmother, who fell in love with a married man. When he died, she was left alone to raise her children, destitute and excluded. This family story captivated Gaël Octavia, who retold it in ''Ma Parole''. After studying at the Lycée Victor-Schœlcher, she obtained her baccalaureate in 1995 and left Martinique to settle in Paris to study. She studied at the lycée Fénelon in Paris and then at a prestigious engineering school.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaël Octavia : "Le mythe de la femme Potomitan est un piège" [#MaParole] |url=https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/gael-octavia-le-mythe-de-la-femme-potomitan-est-un-piege-maparole-932350.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629075839/https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/gael-octavia-le-mythe-de-la-femme-potomitan-est-un-piege-maparole-932350.html |archive-date=2021-06-29 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Outre-mer la 1ère |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

After graduating with a degree in engineering, she worked in telecommunications. In 2002, she started writing for Tangente, a popular mathematics magazine. She also became head of communications for Fondation Sciences Mathématiques de Paris.

Gaël Octavia's abilities blend the mathematical and the artistic. Her favourite means of expression are painting, film making, and above all, literary writing.

== Writing == While being influenced by Martinique, Gaël Octavia's writing deals with broad issues: the [[family]], the status of women, [[social exclusion]] and migration.

Cultural organisations working to promote Caribbean theatre recognised Octavia's work early on. In 2003, actor Greg Germain chose her first play, {{lang|fr|Le Voyage}}, for a reading in his theatre at the {{lang|fr|Chapelle du Verbe Incarné}} in [[Avignon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caribbean Theater Conference {{!}} Department of French |url=https://french.as.virginia.edu/caribbean-theater-conference |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707045136/https://french.as.virginia.edu/caribbean-theater-conference |archive-date=2021-07-07 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=french.as.virginia.edu}}</ref> The following year, {{lang|fr|Congre et homard}}, another play, was selected by the reading committee of {{lang|fr|Textes en Paroles}}, an association based in [[Guadeloupe]] working to promote contemporary Caribbean theatrical writing.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2006 |title=Textes en Paroles 2006 |url=http://www.gensdelacaraibe.org/medias/document/dossier-de-presse-tep2006.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220309225052/http://www.gensdelacaraibe.org/medias/document/dossier-de-presse-tep2006.pdf |archive-date=2022-03-09 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Gens de la Caraïbe |publisher=Association Textes en Paroles |page=9 |language=fr}}</ref> In 2005, {{lang|fr|Moisson d'avril}}, a portrait of a power-seeking but conflicted politician, was broadcast on RFO Martinique under the title "{{lang|fr|Ça y est!}}". Gaël Octavia's plays have been staged in France, [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], across the West Indies and in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Matrimoine |url=https://matrimoine.art/bio/gael-octavia/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128200810/https://matrimoine.art/bio/gael-octavia/ |archive-date=2021-11-28 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Matrimoine |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bérard |first=Stéphanie |date=2010-03-17 |title=Gaël Octavia : une écriture de femme antillaise qui a grandi au contact d'autres femmes antillaises |url=http://africultures.com/gael-octavia-une-ecriture-de-femme-antillaise-qui-a-grandi-au-contact-dautres-femmes-antillaises-9368/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126063334/http://africultures.com/gael-octavia-une-ecriture-de-femme-antillaise-qui-a-grandi-au-contact-dautres-femmes-antillaises-9368/ |archive-date=2021-01-26 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Africultures |language=fr-FR}}</ref>

In 2009, her first book, {{lang|fr|Le Voyage}}, was published by the New York publisher RivartiCollection.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Octavia |first=Gaël |title=Le voyage |date=2009 |publisher=Rivarticollection |isbn=978-0-9786614-5-8 |location=New York |language=French |oclc=648993271}}</ref>

The first of her plays to be staged, {{lang|fr|Congre et homard}}, is a story told between a fisherman and the young man working for him, the third character being the fisherman's wife, who never appears. It was premiered in 2010 by the Guadeloupean director [[Dominik Bernard]], as part of the first edition of the {{lang|fr|Cap Excellence en Théâtre}} Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2016-03-08 |title=Congre et homard de Gaël Octavia : un exercice de haute-école |url=https://www.critical-stages.org/6/congre-et-homard-de-gael-octavia-un-exercice-de-haute-ecole/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117103429/http://www.critical-stages.org/6/congre-et-homard-de-gael-octavia-un-exercice-de-haute-ecole/ |archive-date=2021-01-17 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Critical Stages/Scènes critiques |language=en-US}}</ref> After a tour of the Caribbean, in Guadeloupe, [[Haiti]], Martinique and [[Guyana]], the play was performed during the 2011 [[Avignon]] Festival, before being published the following year by Lansman, under the Etc Caraibe label. {{lang|fr|Cette guerre que nous n'avons pas faite}}, a dialogue between a soldier and his mother, was premiered in 2017 by Luc Clémentin at the Scène nationale de Martinique, Tropiques Atrium, and was performed in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Paris and Reunion. {{lang|fr|La fin de Mame Baby}} is a story of four women narrated by Aline, a home care nurse just returned to her neighbourhood, after fleeing it seven years before. It won the [[prix Wepler]] in 2017. It has been said that in her two novels, she dismantles the myth of the poto mitan, the woman as pillar of Martinique society, saying herself of the idea: "culpabilise les femmes et dédouane les hommes", that it places a burden of responsibility on women, while exculpating men.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaël Octavia : "Le mythe de la femme Potomitan est un piège" [#MaParole] |url=https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/gael-octavia-le-mythe-de-la-femme-potomitan-est-un-piege-maparole-932350.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629075839/https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/gael-octavia-le-mythe-de-la-femme-potomitan-est-un-piege-maparole-932350.html |archive-date=2021-06-29 |access-date=2022-03-08 |website=Outre-mer la 1ère |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the French Caribbean Woman from Martinique, the "poto mitan" |url=https://azmartinique.com/en/all-to-know/studies-research/history-of-the-french-caribbean-woman-from-martinique-the-poto-mitan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309225154/https://azmartinique.com/en/all-to-know/studies-research/history-of-the-french-caribbean-woman-from-martinique-the-poto-mitan |archive-date=2022-03-09 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=AZ Martinique |language=en}}</ref>

{{lang|fr|Rhapsodie}} was premiered in 2020 by Abdon Fortuné Koumbha at the Centre Culturel Municipal Jean Gagnant, in Limoges, as part of their autumn theatre festival.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Rhapsodie |url=http://www.lesfrancophonies.fr/Rhapsodie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030041836/http://www.lesfrancophonies.fr/Rhapsodie |archive-date=2020-10-30 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Les Francophonies}}</ref> In December 2021, her work {{lang|fr|Une vie familiale}} was performed in English as ''Family'' at Molière in the Park, an outdoor theatre festival held in [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]], a "dream-like" play of a closeted husband and wife, trapped by their need to keep up appearances.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinowitz |first=Chloe |title=Moliere In The Park's One-Act Plays Featuring Samira Wiley & More to Premiere Tonight |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/brooklyn/article/Moliere-In-The-Parks-One-Act-Plays-Featuring-Samira-Wiley-More-to-Premiere-Tonight-20211209 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209213214/https://www.broadwayworld.com/brooklyn/article/Moliere-In-The-Parks-One-Act-Plays-Featuring-Samira-Wiley-More-to-Premiere-Tonight-20211209 |archive-date=2021-12-09 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=[[BroadwayWorld]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Stuart |date=2021-05-26 |title=For a New Troupe, Going Digital Has Been Easier Than Returning Live |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/26/theater/moliere-in-the-park-tartuffe.html |access-date=2022-03-09 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Works ==

=== Novels ===

* {{lang|fr|La Fin de Mame Baby}}, Paris, {{lang|fr|Éditions Gallimard}}, 2017<ref>{{Cite book |last=Octavia |first=Gaël. |title=La fin de Mame Baby : roman |date=2017 |publisher=Gallimard |others=Impr. Floch) |isbn=978-2-07-273701-5 |location=[Paris] |oclc=1005733600}}</ref> * {{lang|fr|La Bonne Histoire de Madeleine Démétrius}}, Paris, {{lang|fr|Éditions Gallimard}}, 2020<ref>{{Cite book |last=Octavia |first=Gaël |title=La bonne histoire de Madeleine Démétrius : roman |date=2020 |isbn=978-2-07-290259-8 |location=[Paris, France] |oclc=1222808961}}</ref>

=== Plays ===

* 2003 : {{lang|fr|Un procès équitable}} (unpublished) * 2004 : {{lang|fr|Moisson d’avril}} (unpublished text): reading on the radio station, RFO Martinique in January 2005 * 2009 : {{Cite book |title=Le voyage |publisher=RivartiCollection |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-9786614-5-8 |pages=97}} * 2008 : {{lang|fr|Une vie familiale}} (unpublished): Special mention from the jury of the ETC_Caraïbes/Association Beaumarchais-[[Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques|SACD]] competition in [[2009 in literature|2009]] * 2012 : {{Cite book |title=Congre et homard |publisher=Lansman éditeur, Collection: Théâtre à vif |year=2012 |isbn=978-2-87282-873-9 |pages=48}} * 2012 : {{Cite book |title=Séraphin, péri en mer |publisher= |year= |isbn=}}, [[radio drama]] premiered on Guadeloupe Première * 2014 : {{Cite book |title=Cette guerre que nous n'avons pas faite |publisher=Lansman éditeur, Collection: Théâtre à vif |year=2012 |isbn=978-2-8071-0003-9 |pages=36}} * 2014 : {{lang|fr|Les vieilles}} (unpublished): Finaliste du Prix des Inédits d'Afrique et Outremer (Prix lycéen de littérature dramatique francophone) [[2016 in literature|2016]] * 2017 : ''Grizzly'' (unpublished): Finalist in the competition for the Prix Annick Lansman [[2018 in literature|2018]] * 2020 : {{Cite book |title=Rhapsodie |publisher=Lansman éditeur |year=2020 |isbn=978-2-8071-0297-2 |pages=60}}

=== Short fiction ===

* 2013 : {{lang|fr|Kalashnikov Bébé}}, in {{lang|fr|Les animaux sauvages}}, {{lang|fr|Le Texte Vivant}}, 2013, free download from iTunes<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Texte Vivant l Les publications Gaël OCTAVIA |url=http://www.letextevivant.fr:80/auteur/17/Gael%20OCTAVIA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151206060934/http://www.letextevivant.fr:80/auteur/17/Gael%20OCTAVIA |archive-date=2015-12-06 |access-date=2018-07-19 |website=Le Texte Vivant l Maison d'édition indépendante |language=fr}}</ref> * 2014 : {{lang|fr|Deux petites Indiennes}}, in revue {{lang|fr|IntranQu’îllités}} no. 3, 2014 {{ISBN|978-99970-61-03-4}} * 2015 : {{lang|fr|Nez d'aigle, dents d'ivoire}}, in {{lang|fr|Volcaniques : une anthologie du plaisir}}, edited by [[Léonora Miano]]. {{ISBN|978-2-89712-272-0}} * 2017 : {{lang|fr|L'homme aux dents pointues}}, in {{lang|gcf|Fanm kon Flanm}}, anthology edited by [[Nicole Cage-Florentiny|Nicole Cage]], Cimarron Editions <ref>{{Cite web |title=Fanm kon Flanm {{!}} Madinin-art Critiques Culturelles de Martinique |url=http://www.madinin-art.net/fanm-kon-flanm/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308091403/https://www.madinin-art.net/fanm-kon-flanm/ |archive-date=2022-03-08 |access-date=2018-07-19 |website=www.madinin-art.net |language=fr-FR}}</ref> {{ISBN|979-1-09-715800-2}} * 2018 : {{lang|fr|L'étrangeté de Mathilde T.}}, in {{lang|fr|Nouvelle Revue Française}} no. 630, May 2018, Gallimard, {{ISBN|2072790948}} * 2018 : {{lang|fr|L'enfant du pays}}, in {{lang|fr|Chroniques des îles du vent}}, Sépia/K. Editions {{ISBN|979-10-334-0141-4}} * 2020 : {{lang|fr|L'irradiant}}, in {{lang|fr|IntranQu’îllités}} no. 5, 2020 {{ISBN|979-10-307-0339-9}} * 2021 : {{lang|fr|Pour une algorithmique de la Relation}}, in {{lang|fr|Nouvelle Revue Française}} no. 646, January 2021, Gallimard {{ISBN|2072930375}}

=== Poetry ===

* 2013 : {{lang|fr|Beau monde}}, in the journal {{lang|fr|L'Incertain}} no.1, K.Editions, 2013, {{ISBN|2918141291}} * 2014 : {{lang|fr|Le chien de Varkala}}, in the journal {{lang|fr|L'Incertain}} no. 4, K.Editions, 2014, {{ISBN|2918141488}} * 2018 : {{lang|fr|Cantique}}, {{lang|fr|Paradis}}, {{lang|fr|Rosaline}} and other poems, in the journal {{lang|fr|WIP. Littérature sans filtre}} no. 2, Khartala, May 2018, {{ISBN|2811119868}}

=== Filmography === '''Short films'''

* 2006 : {{lang|fr|Kidnappeur et kidnappeuse}} (14 min; script writer, filmmaker and editor). * 2007 : {{lang|fr|La plus belle conquête de l’homme}} (6 min 46 s; script writer, filmmaker and editor), with cast: Vincent Byrd-Lesage, Lydie Selebran, Mike Ibrahim, Don Pablo, Franck Salin…<ref>{{Cite web |last=Octavia |first=Gaël |title=La plus belle conquête de l'homme |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK0hAVFxKA0 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> * 2008 : {{lang|fr|Vélib’}} (6 min 08 s; script writer, filmmaker and editor), avec Isabelle Mayeko et Raphaël Lévy. * 2009 : ''Cocktail'' (8 min 40 s; script writer and filmmaker), with cast: Vincent Byrd-Lesage, Caroline Rochefort, Céline Creux-Thomas, Véronique Sambin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Octavia |first=Gaël |title=Cocktail |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK0hAVFxKA0 |website=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

== Prizes and awards ==

* 2009 : Special mention from the jury of the ETC_Caraïbes/Association Beaumarchais-[[Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques|SACD]] competition in [[2009 in literature|2009]], for {{lang|fr|Une vie familiale}} * 2013 : Prix du meilleur texte francophone Etc Caraïbes/[[Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques|Association Beaumarchais-SACD]], for {{lang|fr|Cette guerre que nous n'avons pas faite}} * 2016 : Finalist in the {{lang|fr|Prix des Inédits d'Afrique et Outremer}} (High school prize for French-language dramatic literature), for {{lang|fr|Les vieilles}}<ref>[http://www.postures.fr/?cat=10 "Inédits d’Afrique et Outremer 2016 : 4<sup>e</sup> édition"], Postures</ref> * 2017 : [[Prix Wepler]], Special mention from the jury, for ''La fin de Mame Baby'' * 2017 : Finalist in the [[Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde|Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe]], for {{lang|fr|La fin de Mame Baby}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Céry |first=Loïc |year=2017 |title=Sélection finale du Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde 2017 |url=https://blogs.mediapart.fr/edition/institut-du-tout-monde/article/071117/selection-finale-du-prix-carbet-de-la-caraibe-et-du-tout-monde-2017 |journal=Club de Mediapart |language=fr-FR |access-date=2018-07-19}}.</ref> * 2018 : Finalist in the Prix Annick Lansman, for ''Grizzly'' * 2018 : Finalist in the Prix Jeune Mousquetaire du Premier Roman, for {{lang|fr|La fin de Mame Baby}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=BUSSON |first=Eric |date=2017-11-26 |title=SÉLECTION 2018 |url=http://prixjeunemousquetaire.fr/spip.php?article123 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220308091415/http://prixjeunemousquetaire.fr/spip.php?article123 |archive-date=2022-03-08 |access-date=2018-07-19 |website=prixjeunemousquetaire.fr |language=fr}}</ref> * 2018 : Finalist in the Prix [[Régine Deforges]], for {{lang|fr|La fin de Mame Baby}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prix Régine Deforges {{!}} Livres Hebdo |url=http://www.livreshebdo.fr/prix-litteraires/tous-les-prix/prix-regine-deforges |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226213142/https://www.livreshebdo.fr/prix-litteraires/tous-les-prix/prix-regine-deforges |archive-date=2021-02-26 |access-date=2018-07-19 |website=www.livreshebdo.fr |language=fr}}</ref>

== Bibliography ==

* {{lang|fr|Notre Librairie}} ({{lang|fr|CulturesSud}}) no. 162 : {{lang|fr|Théâtres contemporains du Sud}} 1990-2006, pp.&nbsp;146 to 149. Paris-France, 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |last=scène |first=Les Francophonies-Des écritures à la |date=2022-03-09 |title=OCTAVIA Gaël |url=http://www.lesfrancophonies.fr/OCTAVIA-Gael |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Les Francophonies - Des écritures à la scène}}</ref> * {{lang|fr|Gaël Octavia : une écriture de femme antillaise qui a grandi au contact d'autres femmes antillaises}}, interview with Gaël Octavia, by Stéphanie Bérard, in [[Africultures]] no. 80-81, {{lang|fr|Emergences Caraïbe(s) : une création théâtrale archipélique}}, pp.&nbsp;247 to 253. Paris-France, 2010. {{ISBN|978-2-296-10351-1}} * {{lang|fr|Scènes et détours zoologiques : Les détours animaliers des écritures contemporaines}}, {{lang|fr|Université d'été des Théâtres d'Outre-Mer in Avignon (TOMA), Laboratoire SeFeA de l'[[Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3|Institut de recherche en études théâtrales - Sorbonne Nouvelle]]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Africultures |date=2011-07-27 |title=Scènes et détours zoologiques |url=http://africultures.com/scenes-et-detours-zoologiques-10342/ |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=[[Africultures]] |language=fr-FR}}</ref> * {{lang|fr|Coulisses}}, No. 42 : {{lang|fr|Racine : Théâtre et émotion}}, pp.&nbsp;121 to 131. Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. Paris-France, 2011. {{ISBN|2-84867-316-8}}

== References == <references />

== External links ==

* [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13650568.Ga_l_Octavia Gaël Octavia's page on Goodreads] * [http://www.lansman.be/editions/recherche.php?rec_texte=Ga%C3%ABl+Octavia Lansman Éditeur (French language publisher)]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Octavia, Gael}} [[Category:1977 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:21st-century French dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:French novelists]] [[Category:21st-century French artists]] [[Category:Martiniquais novelists]] [[Category:Martiniquais artists]] [[Category:Martiniquais dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:French filmmakers]]