Gagnon was born in
Amqui in the valley of the
Matapedia River and was educated at the Collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie in
Moncton, at the
Université de Montréal and the
Université d'Aix-en-Provence. From 1969 to 1982, she taught literature at the
Université du Québec à Montréal. She later served as a visiting professor and writer-in-residence at the Université de Montréal, at the
Université de Sherbrooke, at the Université du Québec à Montréal and at the
Université du Québec à Rimouski. She wrote for the magazines
Chroniques (which she founded with
Patrick Straram),
Liberté,
La Nouvelle Barre du jour,
Possibles,
Osiris,
Estuaire,
Urgences,
Passages, and
Actuels. In 1986, her book
Les Fleurs du Catalpa received the Grand Prix de poésie from the
Journal de Montréal, Her poetry collection
Chant pour un Québec lointain received the
Governor General's Award for French-language poetry, the Prix Arthur-Buies from the Salon du livre de Rimouski and the Prix Artquimédia from the town of Amqui. In 2002, she was awarded the
Prix Athanase-David. Gagnon was named a member of the
Académie des lettres du Québec in 1987. == Selected works ==