Paul Bossé

A poet, filmmaker, and playwright, Paul Bossé was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, in 1971. After earning his bachelor’s degree in film from Concordia University in 1994, he embarked on a three-pronged artistic career: directing about ten films (including *Les sceaux d’Utrecht*), publishing five collections of poetry (the most recent being *Les démondeurs*), and writing six plays (including *Empreintes*). His poetic style often resembles documentary filmmaking. Many of Paul Bossé’s poems could almost pass for movie synopses or long takes. He has been described as an “Oulipian” (after the OuLiPo movement founded by Raymond Queneau in France). Paul Bossé draws much inspiration from the random scenes of real life that surround him. In his writing, he focuses heavily on language and rhythm. He doesn’t hesitate to use “chiac,” invent neologisms, borrow Latin words, and so on. And the rhythm that propels his words is that of jazz: Monk, Mingus, Coltrane.