Léa Roback: A Life in Translation | Book Launch and Discussion

On November 21, please join us at the Museum of Jewish Montreal with special guests for the launch of Le roman de Léa, a novel on the life of the trailblazing Jewish activist Léa Roback (1903-2000).

Roback worked and lived in French and English, moving between activist communities and cultures. On the occasion of the French translation of the novel Léa, translator Johanne Tremblay, author Ariela Freedman, and urban historian Melanie Leavitt discuss the challenges and opportunities of moving between French and English in Léa’s life and work and their own. This conversation will be held in French and English.

Doors at 6:30pm. Presentation and book signing from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Copies of Léa will be available for purchase.

Please note that this event is free and capacity is limited, so reserve your spot early to avoid disappointment. Pre-registration is required for all who wish to attend. Click here to reserve your spot. 

About Our Guests:

Ariela Freedman was born in Brooklyn and has lived in Jerusalem, New York, Calgary, London, and Montreal. She has a Ph.D. from New York University and teaches literature at Concordia’s Liberal Arts College in Montreal. Her debut, Arabic for Beginners (LLP, 2017), was shortlisted for the QWF Concordia University First Book Prize and won the 2018 J. I. Segal Prize for Fiction. Her second novel, A Joy to be Hidden (LLP, 2019), was shortlisted for the Segal Prize in 2020, and was a finalist for the The Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. Her third novel Léa (LLP, 2022), has recently appeared in Johanne Tremblay’s French translation (Robert Laffont, 2024).

Author, blogger and translator Johanne Tremblay holds a degree in French Studies from the University of Sherbrooke. A former journalist, in 2015 she published a collection of short stories, Un mercredi comme les autres, after distributing it by subscription as a summer literary series. Her first novel, Troisième acte, was published by Saint-Jean Éditeur in 2022.

Focusing on women’s labour history in Québec’s garment and textile industries, Melanie Leavitt has worked on a variety of public history projects including walking tours, conferences, workshops, and oral history and radio projects. Since 2017, she has been a Board Member of Mile End Memories, a socially-engaged historic society, based in the Mile End district of Montréal. In addition to Leavitt’s own background in labour activism and its histories, she is kin to Léa Roback, an important trade union organizer, social activist, pacifist, and feminist in 20th century Québec. Leavitt has recently joined the Board of Directors of the Fondation Léa Roback, which provides scholarships to women in financial need who are active and engaged in their communities.

Accessibility: Our building is currently not accessible to visitors with limited mobility. This event will take place on the ground floor, which is accessible from our main entrance via ramp.