Jean-Christophe Réhel is a Quebec poet, novelist and screenwriter born April 25, 1989 in Montreal. His début novel, Ce qu’on respire sur Tatouine won Quebec’s prestigious Prix littéraire des collégiens. It’s his only novel so far, but he’s busy writing a second. Réhel is also the author of five books of poetry. From January 2020 to April 2021 he published “Le poem à Réhel” every week in the newspaper Le Devoir. He leads poetry workshops for all ages.
Tatouine is also his only book translated into English, but we hope that will change!
Réhel’s writing describes both the beauty and the blandness of everyday life. He explores themes of fatigue, loneliness, and illness, while weaving a good dose of self-deprecating humour.
"I didn't like poetry when I was in school. I shunned poems like the plague. I didn't understand and I didn't want to understand. I had a kind of revelation when I realized that poetry allowed me to go to the heart of feeling and intimacy.” Interview with Voices of Poetry
Jean-Christophe Réhel
Once you start reading Tatouine, you realize his poetic imagination knows no bounds. His interiority captures the most fascinating details that resonate, make you laugh (out loud), or even cry. “To write, for me, is to try to synthesize everyday life…to make it something wonderful.”