Born in Montréal in 1955, Marie Uguay died of cancer in 1981. Her brief, dazzling career ensured her a special place in the Québécois literary landscape. Between her first poems, published in the early 1970s, and her death in 1981, she published three collections: Signe et rumeur, L'outre vie, and Autoportraits. Uguay was posthumously awarded the Émile Nelligan Prize for her body of work, and the Maison de la culture of the Ville-Émard district in Montréal was named after her.