Member of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: November 19, 2012
• Invested on: September 12, 2014

For his promotion of poetry, notably as the founder of both a poetry publishing house and a poetry festival.


For over four decades, Gaston Bellemare has been passionately dedicated to advancing and promoting poetry. Co-founder and former president of Les Écrits des Forges, he helped to transform this publishing house into the largest publisher of French poetry in Canada. He also established and currently serves as president of the Trois-Rivières International Poetry Festival, and founded the Fédération des festivals internationaux de poésie. Moreover, through his volunteerism and leadership within a number of organizations, he is shaping Quebec’s literary and cultural landscape.