About Yann Fortier, French-Language Copywriter and Trainer
Explore my professional background, expertise and reachAs a freelance French-language copywriter since 2011, I have written content for more than 1,250 brands, agencies, and organizations. Many have also benefited from tailored training and one-on-one coaching services.
Communications and Marketing
I previously held various roles in communications and marketing for several leading media outlets and major cultural organizations.
These include: Vice President of Communications at Newad; Senior Communications Advisor at Gesca (La Presse, daily newspapers, television); Head of Communications at TVA Group, TVA International, and Motion International; and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine Forces (distributed with La Presse and later Le Devoir).
Exhibition Curator and Cultural Management
Alongside my work as a copywriter and trainer, I have been a photography exhibition curator since 2012 and Executive Director of World Press Photo Montréal. This annual event welcomes more than 70,000 visitors over six weeks at Marché Bonsecours. In this capacity, I have also produced some twenty related photography exhibitions over the years—both indoor and outdoor—notably for the Ville de Montréal and the SDC Vieux-Montréal.
At various stages of my career, I have held senior press relations roles at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Les Francos de Montréal, and Agence Spectra, as well as serving as Editor-in-Chief of Nightlife magazine.
Driven by a lifelong passion for words, I devote what little free time I have to literature, working as an award-winning novelist and short story writer. More information on this work can be found below and on my Wikipedia page.
World Press Photo Media Reviews
CityNews, September 7, 2023
Expo World Press Photo Montreal: prestigious images
The Suburban, September 6, 2023
A great place for a first date: World Press Photo Montreal exhibition at Bonsecours Market
Copywriting | Content | Translation
1110, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Suite 701
Montréal (Québec) H2L 0E1
514 402-1353 | info@yannfortier.ca
Creative Writing
In late 2015, I released the novel L’angoisse du paradis with publisher Marchand de feuilles. In 2017, I was awarded the ADELF-AMOPA first French-language novel prize, was a finalist for the Senghor prize (attributed to a first French-language and Francophile novel) and shortlisted for the Chambéry first novel prize.
In 2020, I published a second novel called Né pour être vivant (Born to Be Alive, inspired by a 1970s disco one-hit wonder). These two novels constitute literary exercises intended to be funny and entertaining from the outset.
Media Reviews
“It’s extremely funny, I thoroughly enjoyed.”
– ICI Radio-Canada Première (radio), review by Ogden Ridjanovic“Yann Fortier’s debut novel reaches dizzying heights before charging back down at full speed, without ever letting up. We come out of the experience dishevelled, dizzy, intoxicated.”
– L’actualité (magazine), review by Martine Desjardins“L’angoisse du paradis proves to be a deliciously absurd and fabulously intelligent mosaic, brought to life with beautiful lyricism and twisted overtones. A pleasure to read, most refreshing.”
– Les Libraires (magazine), review by Chantal Fontaine“A completely unrestrained first novel.”
– La Presse (daily), interview by Mario Cloutier“Open to the world.”
– Huffington Post (web), interview by Samuel Larochelle“A Bowie-esque novel”
– La librairie francophone (Radio, FranceInter/RTBF/RTS and ICI Radio-Canada), interview by Emmanuel Khérad“An inventive debut novel swarming with details, remarkably written with a splash of subtle irony.”
– Nightlife.ca (web), review by Roxanne Rheault-Leblanc“His relationship to stories and words is one of great pleasure—a playful perspective that informs his clever and eloquent prose. A naturally gifted writer, he is alrea y putting those skills to use on a second novel and, let’s hope, many more to follow.”
– Page page Page (web), review and interview by Camilla Sironi