Jo-Anne Elder
Biography
Jo-Anne Elder - Photo Courtesy of St. Thomas University
Jo-Anne Elder is a writer, editor, educator, and translator. Raised in Burlington, Ontario, she is currently a resident of Fredericton, New Brunswick. She received her B.A. in French Studies from Trent University, Ontario, and completed her Ph.D. in Comparative Canadian Literature at Université de Sherbrooke, Quebéc.
Elder has taught at St. Thomas University and Université de Moncton. She is a member of the Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (International Federation of Translators), a board member for ATTLC/LTAC (Literacy Translators’ Association of Canada), and a literary translator at Transfiction Translation Services. She runs editions ellipse inc., a not-for-profit publication promoting literary translation and intercultural awareness. In addition to editing ellipse magazine from 1969-2012, Elder organized the Side by Side Festival of Literary Translation until 2010 and offers workshops, talks, and bilingual and multilingual book readings.
Elder has translated more than a dozen novels and story collections and has written many pieces of her own. Her first book of poetry, Postcards from Ex-Lovers (Broken Jaw Press, 2005), won the Writers Federation of New Brunswick’s inaugural David Adams Richards prize. Elder was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for translation in 2003, 2009 and 2010.
Elder has taught at St. Thomas University and Université de Moncton. She is a member of the Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs (International Federation of Translators), a board member for ATTLC/LTAC (Literacy Translators’ Association of Canada), and a literary translator at Transfiction Translation Services. She runs editions ellipse inc., a not-for-profit publication promoting literary translation and intercultural awareness. In addition to editing ellipse magazine from 1969-2012, Elder organized the Side by Side Festival of Literary Translation until 2010 and offers workshops, talks, and bilingual and multilingual book readings.
Elder has translated more than a dozen novels and story collections and has written many pieces of her own. Her first book of poetry, Postcards from Ex-Lovers (Broken Jaw Press, 2005), won the Writers Federation of New Brunswick’s inaugural David Adams Richards prize. Elder was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards for translation in 2003, 2009 and 2010.
It finally came to me that I could take charge of my own life.
I’m not sure why this meant that I could not stay where I was.
The proof of my independence seemed to be in getting as far away as
possible. But not as far away as Sydney.
I did not make my decision in haste, but it was still a risk. I read
the newspaper, and almost decided not to come, but by that time it
was too late. I didn’t know that in time either. But this wasn’t about
timeliness, or being sensible. And Fredericton was just far enough. I
could still drive to Québec.
I explained all this to my brother’s friend as we were having a
farewell dinner in their apartment. There were strawberries dipped
in chocolate for dessert, I think. Anyway, I was telling them about the things I had
learned from The Daily Gleaner and the telephone
book. I was telling them about how compact the downtown was,
and how I could drive up to campus in a few minutes and that I had
been told how early to arrive to get a parking space, and that there
was a farmers’ market there, and finally about this café I had seen
advertised. I was trying to explain how this meant that it was all
possible, it was just possible that I could get it together—even though
my friend had just reminded me that was a process, not an event. To
me, it was marked like an item on a list.
So, he said, what you’re telling me is that you’re moving to Fredericton
because they have espresso coffee.
Maybe that was as close to the truth as I could come, right then.
A month after I moved there, the espresso machine in La Vie en
Rose broke down. Shortly afterwards, the place was closed.
So what does this mean? I asked him.
But I was there, and that was enough.
Published in Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Broken Jaw Press, 2005.
Used with permission of the author.
I’m not sure why this meant that I could not stay where I was.
The proof of my independence seemed to be in getting as far away as
possible. But not as far away as Sydney.
I did not make my decision in haste, but it was still a risk. I read
the newspaper, and almost decided not to come, but by that time it
was too late. I didn’t know that in time either. But this wasn’t about
timeliness, or being sensible. And Fredericton was just far enough. I
could still drive to Québec.
I explained all this to my brother’s friend as we were having a
farewell dinner in their apartment. There were strawberries dipped
in chocolate for dessert, I think. Anyway, I was telling them about the things I had
learned from The Daily Gleaner and the telephone
book. I was telling them about how compact the downtown was,
and how I could drive up to campus in a few minutes and that I had
been told how early to arrive to get a parking space, and that there
was a farmers’ market there, and finally about this café I had seen
advertised. I was trying to explain how this meant that it was all
possible, it was just possible that I could get it together—even though
my friend had just reminded me that was a process, not an event. To
me, it was marked like an item on a list.
So, he said, what you’re telling me is that you’re moving to Fredericton
because they have espresso coffee.
Maybe that was as close to the truth as I could come, right then.
A month after I moved there, the espresso machine in La Vie en
Rose broke down. Shortly afterwards, the place was closed.
So what does this mean? I asked him.
But I was there, and that was enough.
Published in Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Broken Jaw Press, 2005.
Used with permission of the author.
Critical Analysis: Pour l'Amour du Café
Meghan Calhoun (ENGL 3403) and Monica Grasse (ACPA Managing Editor, 2015)
Jo-Anne Elder’s poem “La Vie en Rose” is not a stereotypical love letter, but rather one addressed to change: to new places, new faces, and taking chances in order to move beyond the past. The poem conveys the need for change by considering how dreams can become reality and should not be dampened in the face of adversity.
The poem’s opening line summarizes Elder’s realization that she can make change: “It finally came to me that I could take charge of my own life” (1). This kind of revelation reoccurs throughout the poem, which is in the form of a confessional journal entry. In The Diary Novel, Lorna Martens discusses how this is a typical form for women writers: “Some contemporary women writers see fragmentary, open forms like the diary as the readiest possibility for finding a new women’s voice” (182). Elder has found her voice in a poem which questions the various outlooks of life; it is intimate without being unnecessarily personal, romantic yet not too sentimental, and inspiring but not overbearing. Such formal aspects allow readers to understand Elder’s humble dream, but also her inhibiting reality.
Elder’s justification for the need change occurs when she feels that her independent identity seems to be “getting as far away as/possible” (3-4). Yet when she expresses this to a friend, his skepticism momentarily clouds her dreams: “So, he said, what you’re telling me is that you’re moving to Fredericton because they have espresso coffee” (22-23). The use of italics both indicates another’s voice within Elder’s narrative and lends a dismal, sarcastic tone to the discouraging voice. The italics also serve as Elder’s way of mocking the voice, for no criticism can change the determined author’s mind: Elder holds on to her dream, finally declaring amidst her trials that “it was just as possible that I could get it together” (19). Elder’s confidence brings readers into an intimate understanding of her life and struggle at the time of the poem; however, it is through accessible language that readers come to realize that her confidence is what changes her perception and inspires her to make her dreams reality.
Elder explains her dream to through practical justifications:
I was telling them about how compact the downtown was,
and how I could drive to campus in a few minutes
…and that there
was a farmers’ market there, and finally about this café I had seen advertised. I was trying to explain how this meant that it was
all possible (59).
After speaking to her skeptical friends, Elder is even more determined to make her move happen. The details of this move are described through language that emphasizes to her satisfaction in her choice: “But I was there, and that was enough” (28). Because Elder had built up confidence, she maintains composure even when the world’s reality tries to overtake her dream. Even after “the espresso machine in La Vie en/Rose broke down,” Elder remains determined (20-21). Although her friend considered the “espresso machine” as insufficient motive for moving, Elder viewed it as a symbol helping her move, and its passing causes her to ask “So what does this mean” in a way that indicates the self-assurance of someone who has embraced the future (23).
Despite “La Vie en Rose”’s untimely end, Elder points out to readers that no matter what happens during change, the process of making the change is all that counts. Elder’s love letter is one that celebrates with triumph and love whatever type of love one chooses. The double entendre of “La Vie en Rose” is a double entendre within the choices of love; although the loss of the café clouded Elder’s pink view of life, she still chooses to look at the world through the eyes of a hopeful, rose-eyed dreamer.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Elder, Jo-Anne. “La Vie en Rose.” Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Broken Jaw Press, 2005. 59.
Martens, Lorna. The Diary Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985.
Jo-Anne Elder’s poem “La Vie en Rose” is not a stereotypical love letter, but rather one addressed to change: to new places, new faces, and taking chances in order to move beyond the past. The poem conveys the need for change by considering how dreams can become reality and should not be dampened in the face of adversity.
The poem’s opening line summarizes Elder’s realization that she can make change: “It finally came to me that I could take charge of my own life” (1). This kind of revelation reoccurs throughout the poem, which is in the form of a confessional journal entry. In The Diary Novel, Lorna Martens discusses how this is a typical form for women writers: “Some contemporary women writers see fragmentary, open forms like the diary as the readiest possibility for finding a new women’s voice” (182). Elder has found her voice in a poem which questions the various outlooks of life; it is intimate without being unnecessarily personal, romantic yet not too sentimental, and inspiring but not overbearing. Such formal aspects allow readers to understand Elder’s humble dream, but also her inhibiting reality.
Elder’s justification for the need change occurs when she feels that her independent identity seems to be “getting as far away as/possible” (3-4). Yet when she expresses this to a friend, his skepticism momentarily clouds her dreams: “So, he said, what you’re telling me is that you’re moving to Fredericton because they have espresso coffee” (22-23). The use of italics both indicates another’s voice within Elder’s narrative and lends a dismal, sarcastic tone to the discouraging voice. The italics also serve as Elder’s way of mocking the voice, for no criticism can change the determined author’s mind: Elder holds on to her dream, finally declaring amidst her trials that “it was just as possible that I could get it together” (19). Elder’s confidence brings readers into an intimate understanding of her life and struggle at the time of the poem; however, it is through accessible language that readers come to realize that her confidence is what changes her perception and inspires her to make her dreams reality.
Elder explains her dream to through practical justifications:
I was telling them about how compact the downtown was,
and how I could drive to campus in a few minutes
…and that there
was a farmers’ market there, and finally about this café I had seen advertised. I was trying to explain how this meant that it was
all possible (59).
After speaking to her skeptical friends, Elder is even more determined to make her move happen. The details of this move are described through language that emphasizes to her satisfaction in her choice: “But I was there, and that was enough” (28). Because Elder had built up confidence, she maintains composure even when the world’s reality tries to overtake her dream. Even after “the espresso machine in La Vie en/Rose broke down,” Elder remains determined (20-21). Although her friend considered the “espresso machine” as insufficient motive for moving, Elder viewed it as a symbol helping her move, and its passing causes her to ask “So what does this mean” in a way that indicates the self-assurance of someone who has embraced the future (23).
Despite “La Vie en Rose”’s untimely end, Elder points out to readers that no matter what happens during change, the process of making the change is all that counts. Elder’s love letter is one that celebrates with triumph and love whatever type of love one chooses. The double entendre of “La Vie en Rose” is a double entendre within the choices of love; although the loss of the café clouded Elder’s pink view of life, she still chooses to look at the world through the eyes of a hopeful, rose-eyed dreamer.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Elder, Jo-Anne. “La Vie en Rose.” Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Fredericton, New Brunswick: Broken Jaw Press, 2005. 59.
Martens, Lorna. The Diary Novel. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1985.
Bibliography
Primary Sources: Poetry
Elder, Jo-Anne. Blessings. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press. 2018.
---. Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Fredericton: Broken Jaw Press, 2005.
Elder, Jo-Anne and Colin O’Connell, eds. Voices and Echoes: Canadian Women’s Spirtuality. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997.
Cogswell, Fred and Jo-Anne Elder, eds. Unfinished Dreams : Contemporary Poetry of Acadie. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 1990.
Primary Sources: Translations
Bolduc, Monica. "cracks." Gnaw & Gnarl. Ed. Sue Sinclair and Shane Neilson, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018: 20-21.
Chiasson, Herménégilde. Béatitudes Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2007.
---. Climates. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1999.
---. Conversations. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2001.
---. "Five Poems." The Fiddlehead 276 (Summer 2018): 72-81.
---. To Live and Die in Scoudouc. Fredericton: Icehouse Poetry, 2017.
D’Alfonso, Antonio. A Friday in August. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2007.
Diamond, Lynn. The Past at Our Feet. Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2004.
Elder, Jo-Anne. "New Writing in Acadie: Gabriel Robichaud and Émilie Turmel." The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue (2020): 15-42.
Enguehard, Françoise. Tales from Dog Island: St. Pierre et Miquelon. St. John's: Killick Press, 2002.
Fitch, Sheree. Bisous bisous bébé-ô! Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2009.
Forand, Claude. In the Claws of the Cat. Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2006.
Gagnon, Carolle. Marie-Hélène Allain : la symbolique de la Pierre. Moncton: Éditions d'Acadie, 1994.
LaRue, Monique. Between Books: The Writer's Time. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2010.
LeBlanc, Georgette. "Three Poems." The Fiddlehead 281 (Autumn 2019): 16-23.
Leblanc, Gerald. Moncton Mantra. Toronto: Guernica, 2001.
Robichaud, Gabriel. "Stop no. 10." Ed. Sue Sinclair and Shane Neilson, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018: 22.
Thibodeau, Serge Patrice. One. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2009.
Trocmé, Magda, and André Trocmé. Magda and André Trocmé: Resistance Figures. Ed. Pierre Boismorand. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2014.
Secondary Sources:
Albert, Jenna Lyn. "Return to Scoudouc: A Review of To Live and Die in Scoudouc Translated by Jo-Anne Elder." Parallel Universe: the poetries of New Brunswick. Ed. Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018. 181-185.
Elder, Jo-Anne. Personal interview. 3 October 2012.
---. Editorial. ellipse 86 (2008-2009): 2.
---. "On the Road Again, Astheure: A Review of Bolduc, Dugas & Leblanc." Parallel Universe: the poetries of New Brunswick. Ed. Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018. 172-180.
---. Rev. of A Rogue's Decameron by Stan Rogal. Hamilton Arts & Letters, samizdatpress.typepad.com, 2019.
Neilson, Shane. "Alternate Universe of the Same Place." Interview with Jo-Anne Elder. Quebec Studies 65 (Spring/Summer 2018): 21-35.
---. "Fermenting Over Time." Rev. of To Live and Die in Scoudouc. The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 111-113.
Tremblay, Tony. "Strategy and Vision For An Intercultural New Brunswick in the Recent Poetry of Herménégilde Chiasson and the Translation of Jo-Anne Elder." Quebec Studies 50 (Fall 2010/Winter 2011): 97-111.
---. The Fiddlehead Moment. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 2019. 205.
Elder, Jo-Anne. Blessings. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press. 2018.
---. Postcards from Ex-Lovers. Fredericton: Broken Jaw Press, 2005.
Elder, Jo-Anne and Colin O’Connell, eds. Voices and Echoes: Canadian Women’s Spirtuality. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997.
Cogswell, Fred and Jo-Anne Elder, eds. Unfinished Dreams : Contemporary Poetry of Acadie. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 1990.
Primary Sources: Translations
Bolduc, Monica. "cracks." Gnaw & Gnarl. Ed. Sue Sinclair and Shane Neilson, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018: 20-21.
Chiasson, Herménégilde. Béatitudes Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2007.
---. Climates. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1999.
---. Conversations. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2001.
---. "Five Poems." The Fiddlehead 276 (Summer 2018): 72-81.
---. To Live and Die in Scoudouc. Fredericton: Icehouse Poetry, 2017.
D’Alfonso, Antonio. A Friday in August. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2007.
Diamond, Lynn. The Past at Our Feet. Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2004.
Elder, Jo-Anne. "New Writing in Acadie: Gabriel Robichaud and Émilie Turmel." The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue (2020): 15-42.
Enguehard, Françoise. Tales from Dog Island: St. Pierre et Miquelon. St. John's: Killick Press, 2002.
Fitch, Sheree. Bisous bisous bébé-ô! Halifax: Nimbus Publishing, 2009.
Forand, Claude. In the Claws of the Cat. Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2006.
Gagnon, Carolle. Marie-Hélène Allain : la symbolique de la Pierre. Moncton: Éditions d'Acadie, 1994.
LaRue, Monique. Between Books: The Writer's Time. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2010.
LeBlanc, Georgette. "Three Poems." The Fiddlehead 281 (Autumn 2019): 16-23.
Leblanc, Gerald. Moncton Mantra. Toronto: Guernica, 2001.
Robichaud, Gabriel. "Stop no. 10." Ed. Sue Sinclair and Shane Neilson, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018: 22.
Thibodeau, Serge Patrice. One. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 2009.
Trocmé, Magda, and André Trocmé. Magda and André Trocmé: Resistance Figures. Ed. Pierre Boismorand. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2014.
Secondary Sources:
Albert, Jenna Lyn. "Return to Scoudouc: A Review of To Live and Die in Scoudouc Translated by Jo-Anne Elder." Parallel Universe: the poetries of New Brunswick. Ed. Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018. 181-185.
Elder, Jo-Anne. Personal interview. 3 October 2012.
---. Editorial. ellipse 86 (2008-2009): 2.
---. "On the Road Again, Astheure: A Review of Bolduc, Dugas & Leblanc." Parallel Universe: the poetries of New Brunswick. Ed. Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair, Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018. 172-180.
---. Rev. of A Rogue's Decameron by Stan Rogal. Hamilton Arts & Letters, samizdatpress.typepad.com, 2019.
Neilson, Shane. "Alternate Universe of the Same Place." Interview with Jo-Anne Elder. Quebec Studies 65 (Spring/Summer 2018): 21-35.
---. "Fermenting Over Time." Rev. of To Live and Die in Scoudouc. The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 111-113.
Tremblay, Tony. "Strategy and Vision For An Intercultural New Brunswick in the Recent Poetry of Herménégilde Chiasson and the Translation of Jo-Anne Elder." Quebec Studies 50 (Fall 2010/Winter 2011): 97-111.
---. The Fiddlehead Moment. Montreal: McGill-Queen's UP, 2019. 205.
