Roch Carrier (born May 13, 1937) is a celebrated French-Canadian novelist and author of "contes" (a very brief form of the short story).

He was born in Sainte-Justine-de-Dorchester, Quebec and studied at the Université St-Louis (in the Canadian province of New Brunswick), the Université de Montréal (in Quebec), and at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France, where he received a doctorate in literature.

From 1994 to 1997, he served as head of the Canada Council. In 1998, he ran as an electoral candidate for the Quebec Liberal Party under Jean Charest, but was not elected.

In 1991, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1999, Carrier was named Canada's National Librarian of Canada. He held this office until 2004.

Carrier defended Jacques Poulin's novel Volkswagen Blues in Canada Reads 2005.

Also involved in theatre (having served as dramaturge at the Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde ), Carrier has adapted La guerre, yes sir! and Floralie, où es-tu? for the stage. La guerre, yes sir! was produced as a play in 1970. Floralie, où es-tu? was performed by Théâtre du Nouveau-Monde in 1974.

An excerpt from "Le chandail de hockey" ("The Hockey Sweater"), one of Carrier's most famous contes, is reprinted on the back of the Canadian five-dollar bill. The story, about a young boy who orders a Montreal Canadiens sweater from the Eaton's catalogue, but receives a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey instead, is considered by many to be a literary allegory for the linguistic and cultural tensions between English and French Canadians, and is thus considered one of the most important works of Canadian literature ever written, essential reading for anybody who seeks to understand the complex realities of linguistic and cultural identity in Canada.

Bibliography

• La guerre, yes sir! (1968)
• Floralie, où es-tu? (Floralie, Where Are You?) (1969)
• Il est par là, le soleil (Is it the Sun, Philibert?) (1970)
• Jardin des délices (The Garden of Delights) (1975)
• Il n'y a pas de pays sans grand-père (No Country without Grandfathers) (1977)
• Les enfants du bonhomme dans la lune (The Hockey Sweater and other stories) (1979)
• Dame qui avait des chaînes aux chevilles (Lady with Chains) (1981)
• Prières d'un enfant très très sage (Prayers of a Very Wise Child) (1991)
• Prières d'un adolescent très très sage (Prayers of a Young Man) (1998)

See also: Canadian literature.