Authors, Journalists, Speakers

They are Canada’s two solitudes, united in one.

Jean-Benoît Nadeau grew up speaking French in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Julie Barlow grew up speaking English in Ancaster, Ontario. They met at McGill University in 1987 and learned each other’s languages. After they graduated they made cultural exchange into a lifestyle and their professional trademark.

Bestselling Authors

Together and separately, Nadeau and Barlow have written roughly a thousand magazine and newspaper articles. They have published six books in French and English in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and France. Together, they have won some 40 literary and journalism prizes. Their books have been translated into Dutch, Mandarin and Japanese.

A Book on the French Language

In 2006, Nadeau and Barlow published The Story of French (St. Martin’s Press in the U.S., Knopf Canada and Robson Anova Books in the UK). The book appeared in French as La Grande Aventure de la langue française (Québec Amérique, 2007) and in Japanese as France-go-no-hanashi (フランス語のはなし—もうひとつの国際共通語 (単行本) (Taishukan, 2008). It will be published in France as Le Français, quelle histoire (Télémaque) in October 2010.

The Story of French explains how French developed its special characteristics and unprecedented influence, and why it remains the world’s second international tongue to this day.

The New York Times called The Story of French “a highly accessible history of the French language.” The Independent said it was “an excellent book … stuffed with surprises, insight and humor.” The Montreal Gazette said it was “a mind-altering experience.”

France and the French

After winning a scholarship from an American foundation, The Institute for Current World Affairs, Nadeau and Barlow lived in Paris from 1999 to 2001. When they got to France, they put their bilingual, bicultural experience to work exploring the mysteries of French society. In 2003, they published an entertaining analysis of the French: Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong. Praised in the Wall Street Journal, the Daily Telegraph and more, the book has sold some 250 000 copies in English, French, Mandarin and Dutch. French TV personality Bernard Pivot called the French version, Pas si fous ces Français! (Seuil, 2005), “an invigorating read” and praised the authors as “unbiased, cultivated, wise and curious.”

Other Works

Julie Barlow published the travel guide Montreal and Quebec City for Dummies (1^st edition, Wiley).In French, Jean-Benoît Nadeau is the best-selling author of a humorous travelogue on France, Les Français aussi ont un accent (Payot) as well a guide for the self-employed Le Guide du travailleur autonome (Québec Amérique) and a guide to earning a living as a writer, Écrire pour vivre (Québec Amérique).

Speaking

Since 2003, Nadeau and Barlow have given roughly 80 talks on France and the French language in Canada, the U.S., France, the U.K., the Netherlands and Japan.

Journalism

Prize-winning journalists, Julie Barlow and Jean Jean-Benoit Nadeau have published in Canada’s top magazines and newspapers. Their newspaper and magazine articles have appeared in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Toronto Star, The Christian Science Monitor, L’Express, Le Courrier international and more. They are regular contributors to Canada's national French public affairs magazine L’actualité.

Nadeau and Barlow are based in Montreal, where they live with their two daughters. They will be spending 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona, where Julie Barlow won a Fulbright Scholarship at Arizona State University to research the couple’s next book.