Because They Were Women

Josée Boileau, translated by Chantal Bilodeau

Image | BOOK COVER: Because They Were Women by Josée Boileau

(Second Story Press)

Fourteen young university students, murdered because they were women, are memorialized in this definitive account of a tragic day that forced a reckoning with violence against women in our culture. Each of the victims of what became known as the "Montreal Massacre" are remembered, their lives cut short on December 6, 1989 when a man entered their school and systematically shot every young woman he encountered, motivated by a misogyny who's roots go far beyond one man and one day. (From Second Story Press)
Josée Boileau is a journalist from Montreal. She is a columnist for CBC/Radio Canada, Chatelaine and Journal de Montréal. Because They Were Women ​​is her first book to be translated into English​​​​.
Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright and translator from Montreal who now lives in New York. She has translated more than 20 plays.

More about the Montreal Massacre

Media | Thirty years after the Montreal Massacre

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Media Video | CBC News : Victims of École Polytechnique massacre

Caption: These are the 14 women killed during the Montreal Massacre on Dec. 6, 1989, during an anti-feminist rampage at an engineering school.

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Media Video | The National : Montreal Massacre survivor on her fight for gun control in honour of her classmates

Caption: Nathalie Provost survived the massacre at École Polytechnique 30 years ago and tells Adrienne Arsenault about fighting to ban the firearm that killed her classmates and to continue their legacy.

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Media Video | The National : Marking 30 years since the Montreal Massacre

Caption: People in Canada and around the world are marking 30 years since the anti-feminist massacre at Montreal’s École Polytechnique where 14 women were killed.

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Media | Panel - The gun control debate continues 30 years after the Polytechnique massacre

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Media Audio | Day 6 : 'It takes a long while to recover:' Montreal Massacre survivor on learning to live with tragedy

Caption: As Nova Scotia mourns the 22 victims killed in last weekend's deadly rampage, Nathalie Provost, who narrowly survived the 1989 attack at Montreal's École Polytechnique, shares her thoughts on living with trauma and the long road to recovery.

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