Born in Bas-Caraquet, New Brunswick, Claude Le Bouthillier has published historical novels, contemporary novels and three collections of poetry. For several years, he was a columnist for L'Acadie Nouvelle. He has received numerous awards, including the Pascal Poirier Prize in 2000 for his body of work. In 2009, he received the Order of Canada in recognition of his important contribution to Acadian literature and the role he played in the renaissance of the Acadian novel.  He was also the recipient of the five-year Antonine-Maillet-Acadie Vie Literary Award in 2013.

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Claude Le Bouthillier obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Collège de Bathurst in 1966, a Master's degree in psychology from the Université de Moncton in 1971, and a doctorate in social psychology from the Université Paris-Ouest-Nanterre-La-Défense in 1982. He has practiced psychology in schools and universities, and in private practice in Quebec and Acadia.  He is a former president of the Public Lending Right Commission, which is mandated to compensate authors for the use of their books in Canadian libraries.

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Claude Le Bouthillier's writing is militant, opposing the folkloric vision advocated in his time, he is interested in the novel of anticipation and he wrote L'Acadie reprend son pays (1977), in which a terrorist group takes the pope hostage in order to demand the independence of Acadia, while in Babel ressuscitée (2005), a visionary, he imagines the world in 2040, with an independent Acadia whose inhabitants save the Earth from destruction. In Isabelle-sur-Mer (1979), however, the author imagines a charming and bucolic Acadian society.

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He also tackles the psychological novel with C'est pour quand le paradis... (1984), a story that attacks sexual taboos and sterile religious education. He focuses on characters struggling to thrive in a conservative and guilt-ridden society in Le Borgo et l'Écumeuse (1998), which won him the Éloizes prize, as well as in Karma et coups de foudre (2007). He created a historical saga with Le Feu du mauvais temps (1989), for which he received the Prix Champlain, and Les Marées du Grand Dérangement (1994). Complices du silence? (2004) takes place in the present day and completes the trilogy by using elements of anticipation reminiscent of his first novels. The trilogy deals with the pain caused by the loss of historical Acadia in the face of the hope of a rebirth.  Following the success of these bestsellers and to mark the 440th anniversary of the founding of Acadia, Le Feu du Mauvais temps was translated into English in 2004: Phantom Ships.

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La terre tressée

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La terre tressée, published in 2011, pays tribute to the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet Amerindians who have inhabited New Brunswick for thousands of years.  In addition to having helped our French ancestors to settle and survive in Acadia, they have shared with us customs, traditions and respect for nature.  Above all, they have left us many words, including place names.  Some of these places are still inhabited by Acadians.  The author wanted to talk about them in small poetic texts inspired by history, geography, traditions and modernity, without forgetting the magic of the place evoked by its name.

A fighter to the end, Claude Le Bouthillier left us on March 2nd, 2016 in the arms of Alexandre, his only son.  He left us a last book, Pas de distance entre nos cœurs, a story of gratitude, as he wished to describe it, touching by the candor and sincerity of the words he addresses to his loved ones, like a farewell...a goodbye

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