
Mishka Lavigne
City :
Gatineau
Province :
QC
Country :
Canada
Affiliations: CEAD, Playwrights' Guild of Canada, Théâtre Action, AQAD,
Membership category :
Full member
About / Bio
Mishka Lavigne (she / her) is a playwright, screenwriter, and literary translator. Her plays have been developed and performed in Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia, Haiti, and Mexico. In 2023, she was a finalist to the prestigious Siminovitch Prize.
Her play Havre, created at La Troupe du Jour (Saskatoon) received the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2019. Copeaux, produced by Théâtre de Dehors (Ottawa) was also awarded the same prize in 2021, as well as the Prix Jacques-Poirier. Murs, first produced as a podcast by Transisor Médias, Créations In Vivo and the Théâtre Populaire d’Acadie, received rave reviews in France and was produced for the stage in 2023.
Mishka also writes in English. Her play Albumen, produced by TACTICS in 2019 (Ottawa), received the QWF Playwriting Prize. Her play Shorelines, produced on stage in Ottawa (TACTICS) in 2023, is a recent finalist to the Governor General Award, the QWF Playwriting Prize and the Carol Bolt Award.
As a translator, both in French and English, Mishka has more than twenty credited translations of theatre, prose and poetry.
Education / Training
• Screenwriting with Guy Boutin, University of Moncton, October 2020 to January 2021;
• Production Dramaturgy with Nils Haarmann of the Schaubühne Theatre in Berlin, Dramaturgies en dialogue, Montréal, August 2017;
• “Écriture de plateau” (Stage composition writing) with Arne Sierens and creation workshop with Étienne Lepage and Frédérick Gravel, Dramaturgies en dialogue, Montréal, August 2016;
• Participation in the International Theatre Translation Seminar offered within the Dramaturgies en dialogue Festival, Montréal, August 2015;
• Playwriting Masterclass with Carole Fréchette and “Théâtre paysage”, in situ writing workshop with Alexandre Koutchevsky, Dramaturgies en dialogue, Montréal, August 2014;
• “Tout ce qui nous lie”, Playwriting Masterclass with Pauline Sales, Jamais Lu Festival, Montréal, May 2013;
• “Écriture dramatique et anatomie ludique”, Professional Playwriting Workshop with Larry Tremblay as part of the Zones Théâtrales Festival, September 2011;
• M.A. French Literature, specialization in Playwriting, University of Ottawa, 2008. Title of thesis: Le statut de l’intergénérique chez Réjean Ducharme – Adaptation théâtrale des Enfantômes;
• B.A. Theatre, specialization in acting and stage design, University of Ottawa, 2006;
Awards & Distinctions
· Winner: 2021 Governor General’s Literary Awards (Drama – French) for Copeaux;
· Winner: Prix littéraire Jacques-Poirier 2021 for Copeaux;
· Winner: 2020 QWF Prize for Playwriting for Albumen;
· Winner: 2019 Governor General’s Literary Awards (Drama – French) for Havre;
· Finalist: Michel-Tremblay Drama Prize 2019 for Havre;
· Winner: Prix Rideau Awards 2018-2019, Best New Work for Albumen;
· Winner: Best Play Award, Havre (translated into German by Frank Weigand), Primeurs Frankophone Gegenwartsdramatik Festival, Saarbrücken, Germany, November 2018;
· Winner: Fondation ATFC Ontario Prize, June 2018;
· Winner: Ontario-Québec Literary Prize for Cinéma, November 2017;
· Winner: Jeanne-Sabourin Professional Prize for Cinéma, Théâtre Action, June 2016;
· Winner: Fondation ATFC Ontario Prize, (jointly with artist Éric Perron), September 2015;
· Winner: RBC Emerging Artist National Award (through the Fondation ATFC), 2013.
Languages
-
English -> French
French -> English
Literary Types
- Non fiction
- Children's / YA Literature
- Poetry
- Fiction
- Dubbing or Subtitling
- Theatre
Selected Bibliography
- BELCOURT, Billy-Ray, Choeur infime, Éditions Triptyque, Montréal, 2025, Éditions Amaury, France, 2025 // BELCOURT, Billy-Ray, A Minor Chorus
- VOWEL, Chelsea, Écrits autochtones - Comprendre les enjeux des Premières Nations, des Métis et des Inuit au Canada, Éditions Varia, Montréal, 2021 // VOWEL, Chelsea, Indigenous Writes - A Guide to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Issues in Canada, Highwater Press, Winniped, 2016
- BELCOURT, Billy-Ray, Cette blessure est un territoire, Éditions Triptyque, Montréal, 2019 // BELCOURT, Billy-Ray, This Wound is a World, Frontenac Publishing House, 2017
- DEERCHILD, Rosanna, le nom de mama, Éditions David, Ottawa, 2018 // DEERCHILD, Rosanna, calling down the sky, Bookland Press, 2015
- MORISSEAU, Dominique, Pipeline (v.f.), Black Theatre Workshop / Théâtre la Licorne, Montréal, 2022 // MORISSEAU, Dominique, Pipeline
- HANSBERRY, Lorraine, Héritage, Duceppe, 2019 // HANSBERRY, Lorraine, A Raisin in the Sun
- GALE, Lorena, Angélique (v.f.), Black Theatre Workshop, Montréal, 2018 // GALE, Lorena, Angélique
- HINES, Karen, Crawlspace (v.f.), Théâtre français de Toronto, 2023-2024 // HINES, Karen, Crawlspace
- HINES, Karen, Tous les petits animaux que j'ai dévorés, Festival du Jamais Lu, Montréal, 2020-2022 // HINES, Karen, All the Little Animals I Have Eaten
- HIGHWAY, Tomson, Chansons du vent du nord (3 albums jeunesse illustrés), Éditions Prise de Parole, Sudbury, 2020 // HIGHWAY, Tomson, Songs Of The North Wind (3 illustrated children's titles), 2010
- ARLUK, Reneltta, Tumit (v.f.), Akipik Theatre, Montréal, 2015 // ARLUK, Reneltta, Tumit