First published in l965, Hubert Aquin’s Next Episode is a disturbing and yet deeply moving novel of dissent and distress. As he awaits trial, a young separatist writes an espionage story in the psychiatric ward of the Montreal prison where he has been detained. Sheila Fischman’s bold new translation captures the pulsating life of Aquin’s complex exploration of the political realities of contemporary Quebec.

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Hubert Aquin was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1929. After receiving his licentiate in philosophy from the Université de Montréal, he spent three years at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, then returned to the Université de Montréal, where he studied for one year at the Institute of History.

Aquin worked as a radio and television producer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Public Affairs division in Montreal and won many awards for his work as a director with the National Film Board.

One of Quebec’s prominent essayists, he turned to fiction in the 1960s. Next Episode (1965), Aquin’s first novel, is the searing first-person account of terrorism about to be perpetrated by the novel’s young narrator.

Hubert Aquin died in Montreal, Quebec, in 1977.

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