Maude Smith Gagnon was born in Basse-Côte-Nord and now lives in Montreal. She has a Master of Arts degree in literary studies from the Université du Québec à Montréal. Her first poetry collection, Une tonne d’air, was the winner of the Émile-Nelligan award and her second book, Un drap. Une place., won the 2012 Governor General’s Award for French-language poetry.