LAMONTAGNE-BEAUREGARD, BLANCHE

born 1889, Les Escoumains, Que., Can. died 1958, Canada French-Canadian poet who is recognized as the first important female poet of French Canada. Lamontagne studied literature at the University of Montreal. Her early writing explored historical themes, but she later shifted to regionalism, extolling her homeland, the Gasp Peninsula, in a robust, emotional style. Her collections of lyric poetry include Visions Gaspsiennes (1913; Views of the Gasp), Par nos champs et nos rives (1917; Through Our Fields and Shores), Ma Gaspsie (1928; My Gasp), and Moisson nouvelle (1926; New Harvest).