# Nicolas Dickner > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicolas_Dickner > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicolas_Dickner.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Dickner > Source revision: 1341682930 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Canadian novelist and short story writer|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{infobox writer | name = Nicolas Dickner | image = NicolasDickner.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972}} | birth_place = [Rivière-du-Loup](/source/Rivi%C3%A8re-du-Loup), [Quebec](/source/Quebec) | occupation = | language = French | nationality = Canadian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = novels, short stories | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''[Nikolski](/source/Nikolski_(novel))'' | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | portaldisp = }} '''Nicolas Dickner''' (born 1972 in [Rivière-du-Loup](/source/Rivi%C3%A8re-du-Loup), [Quebec](/source/Quebec)){{Cite web|date=2017-02-17|title=L'écrivain canadien Nicolas Dickner repousse les frontières|url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/culture/20170217-ecrivain-canadien-nicolas-dickner-repousse-frontieres-livres-litterature|access-date=2021-05-14|website=RFI|language=fr}} is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He is best known for his 2005 novel ''[Nikolski](/source/Nikolski_(novel))'', which has won numerous literary awards in Canada both in its original French and translated English editions. His books have been translated into over 10 languages.{{Cite web|date=2009-04-11|title=Nicolas Dickner: à propos de la fin du monde|url=https://www.lesoleil.com/archives/nicolas-dickner-a-propos-de-la-fin-du-monde-47573aad2b3582bbaf1f17f68e539a4b|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Le Soleil|language=fr}} == Education == Dickner studied at [Laval University](/source/Universit%C3%A9_Laval), where he was inspired by a course on biblical literary history.{{Cite web|last=BÉDARD-FISET|first=Alexis|date=2016-03-07|title=SOIRÉE CONVIVIALE AVEC LES FINALISTES DU PRIX LITTÉRAIRE DES COLLÉGIENS|url=http://impactcampus.ca/arts-et-culture/soiree-conviviale-prix-litteraire-collegiens-2016/|access-date=2021-05-14}} He studied art and literature during his bachelor's degree, then went on to complete a master's degree in creative writing.{{Cite web|title=Nicolas Dickner|url=https://canada-culture.org/en/event/remise-du-prix-anne-hebert-2/|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Canadian Cultural Centre – Paris|language=en-CA}} His master's work was published as the anthology ''L’Encyclopédie du petit cercle''.{{Cite journal|last=Bernard|first=Michèle|date=2016|title=Nicolas Dickner entre passion et obsession|url=https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/nb/2016-n142-nb02471/81357ac/|journal=Nuit blanche, magazine littéraire|language=fr|issue=142|pages=13–16|issn=0823-2490}} In 2017, Dickner completed a master's at the [Université de Montréal](/source/Universit%C3%A9_de_Montr%C3%A9al) on public sector data and its applications.{{Cite journal|last=Dickner|first=Nicolas|date=2017|title=Comprendre et manipuler les données ouvertes de l'administration publique : la situation au Gouvernement du Québec et à la Ville de Montréal|url=https://papyrus.bib.umontreal.ca/xmlui/handle/1866/19271|access-date=2021-05-14|website=umontreal.ca}} == Career == His first novel, ''[Nikolski](/source/Nikolski_(novel))'', was released in 2005 and became an instant success in Quebec.{{Cite web|last=Lapointe|first=Josée|date=2015-03-20|title=Nicolas Dickner: le roman du conteneur|url=https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/livres/entrevues/201503/20/01-4853953-nicolas-dickner-le-roman-du-conteneur.php|access-date=2021-05-14|website=lapresse.ca}} It marked a new wave of Quebec literature with appeal to an international audience and fresh ideas no longer drawing comparisons to other twentieth-century French-Canadian works.{{Cite web|last=McCambridge|first=Peter|date=2018-09-21|title=New Frontiers of Canadian Publishing in Québec|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/international/international-book-news/article/78097-new-frontiers-of-canadian-publishing-in-qu-bec.html|access-date=2021-05-14|website=PublishersWeekly.com|language=en}} He is published by the [Quebec City](/source/Quebec_City)-based publisher Éditions Alto, a small press founded by Antoine Tanguay who Dickner met in university.{{Cite web|last=Beattie|first=Steven W.|date=2017-08-30|title=How young Quebec publishers are taking risks and finding new readers|url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/how-young-quebec-publishers-are-taking-risks-and-finding-new-readers/|access-date=2021-05-14|website=quillandquire.com}} In 2014, Dickner and [Dominique Fortier](/source/Dominique_Fortier) published ''Révolutions'', a collaborative project for which they each wrote a short piece each day for a year based on a word chosen from the [French Republican Calendar](/source/French_Republican_Calendar).[https://www.ledevoir.com/culture/livres/418871/un-mot-un-jour "Un mot, un jour"]. ''[Le Devoir](/source/Le_Devoir)'', September 20, 2014. He currently lives in [Montreal](/source/Montreal) with his family, where he is a literary columnist for the [alternative weekly](/source/alternative_weekly) newspaper ''[Voir](/source/Voir)''.[http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/book-nikolski.html Canada Reads: ''Nikolski'']. [cbc.ca](/source/cbc.ca). He also works in translation. In 2015, he finished a translation of [Andrew Kaufman](/source/Andrew_Kaufman)'s ''Born Weird''. Dickner has travelled throughout Latin America and Europe.{{Cite web|title=Six degrés de liberté» de Nicolas Dickner: un défi à la gravité|url=https://www.ledevoir.com/lire/434328/six-degres-de-liberte-de-nicolas-dickner-un-defi-a-la-gravite|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Le Devoir|language=fr}} He wrote in [Bamberg](/source/Bamberg) for a period of time. He has spent time as webmaster for the Union des écrivaines et des écrivains québécois (UNEQ) and as a database programmer in Peru. ==Works== * ''L'Encyclopédie du petit cercle'', 2000 * ''Nikolski'', 2005 ::English translation by [Lazer Lederhendler](/source/Lazer_Lederhendler) published 2008. * ''Traité de balistique'', 2006 ::Written under the pen name Alexandre Bourbaki in collaboration with Bernard Wright-Laflamme.{{Cite web|title=Université de Montréal - Journal Forum - 12 mars 2007 - Pour Nicolas Dickner, c'est en écrivant qu'on devient écrivain|url=http://www.iforum.umontreal.ca/Forum/2006-2007/20070312/francais_2.html|access-date=2021-05-14|website=www.iforum.umontreal.ca}} * ''Tarmac'', 2009 ::''Apocalypse for Beginners'', English translation by Lazer Lederhendler published 2010.[http://www.quillandquire.com/google/article.cfm?article_id=11066 M&S acquires new Terry Fallis and first book by Dr. Samantha Nutt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224072449/http://www.quillandquire.com/google/article.cfm?article_id=11066 |date=2012-02-24 }}. ''[Quill & Quire](/source/Quill_%26_Quire)'', December 17, 2009. * ''Le Romancier portatif : 52 chroniques à emporter'', 2011 ::A selection from Dickner's column in ''[Voir](/source/Voir).'' * ''Révolutions'', 2014 * ''Six degrés de liberté'', 2015 (''Six Degrees of Freedom'', english translation by Lazer Lederhendler, Vintage Canada, 2017). == Themes == Dickner's books often feature characters with peculiar fixations, like the end of the world in ''Tarmac'', or shipping containers in ''Six degrés de liberté''. He also introduces "geeky" references and features computer technology in ''Nikolski'' and ''Six degrés de liberté.'' His prose has a sense of "absurdist poetry"{{Cite news|last=Rüf|first=Isabelle|date=2017-02-03|title=La mélancolie des conteneurs|newspaper=Le Temps|url=https://www.letemps.ch/culture/melancolie-conteneurs-0|access-date=2021-05-14}} through his use of lists and technical asides.{{Cite web|last=Leger|first=Isabelle|date=2015-04-21|title=Six degrés de liberté» de Nicolas Dickner, En finir avec la géographie|url=https://labibleurbaine.com/litterature/six-degres-de-liberte-de-nicolas-dickner/|access-date=2021-05-14|website=labibleurbaine.com}} More than one of his characters becomes fascinated with consumer waste and either researching or reusing refuse. Travel and wanderlust are recurring topics throughout his works,{{Cite web|date=2011-01-25|title=Apocalypse for Beginners|url=https://quillandquire.com/review/apocalypse-for-beginners/|access-date=2021-05-14|website=Quill and Quire|language=en}} as is loneliness. Dickner uses fragmented stories and alternating perspectives to build up the narrative in his novels. ==Awards== thumb|right|Dickner at a 2010 reading * ''L'encyclopédie du petit cercle'' # 2001 - Prix littéraire Adrienne-Choquette # 2001 - Prix Jovette-Bernier * ''Nikolski'' # 2006 - Prix des libraires # 2006 - [Prix littéraire des collégiens](/source/Prix_litt%C3%A9raire_des_coll%C3%A9giens) # 2006 - [Prix Anne-Hébert](/source/Prix_Anne-H%C3%A9bert) # 2006 - Prix Printemps des Lecteurs–Lavinal # 2008 - [Governor General's Award for French to English translation](/source/Governor_General's_Award_for_French_to_English_translation) # 2010 - Winner of ''[Canada Reads](/source/Canada_Reads)'' 2010{{Cite web|last=CBC Books|date=2019-03-22|title=20 facts you might not know about Canada Reads|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/20-facts-you-might-not-know-about-canada-reads-1.5066796|access-date=2021-05-14|website=cbc.ca}} * ''Six degrés de liberté'' #2015 - [Governor General's Award for Fiction (French)](/source/Governor_General's_Awards) ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== * {{in lang|fr}} [http://nicolasdickner.net/ Nicolas Dickner] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickner, Nicolas}} Category:1972 births Category:Canadian male novelists Category:French-language Canadian short story writers Category:People from Rivière-du-Loup Category:Living people Category:French-language Canadian novelists Category:Canadian male short story writers Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian short story writers Category:21st-century Canadian male writers Category:Université Laval alumni Category:Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers Category:Novelists from Quebec --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nicolas Dickner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Dickner) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Dickner?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.