Xénia Gould

Xénia Gould is a transdisciplinary poet from Shediac, the lobster capital of the world. In 2017, this literary rock star shook up the Acadian cultural scene, notably through her characters Jass-Sainte Bourque and Chiquita Mére, which challenge the lack of LGBTQ+ representation across the Acadian diaspora. Based in Montreal, Xénia works as a content creator, drag queen, poet, performer, and interdisciplinary artist, proudly carrying the torch for her Acadian dialect: Chiac. She explores the relationships between her body and the identities tied to the concept of home. In 2021, she won the Prix La Vague for Best Acadian Short Film at the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA), as well as the Best Canadian Film Award in the Courts Queer section of the Image+Nation festival with her fifth short film, Mona. That same film also received a Special Mention at the Regard Festival in 2021. In 2023, Xénia released her first poetry collection, Des fleurs comme moi, published by Prise de parole. Since then, she has published work in several literary journals, including Estuaire, Moebius, Nouveau projet, Tantôt, and Tourniquet, among others. She is currently working on her next poetry collection and her one-woman show, Juste vide ton cœur, which will be presented at Usine C as part of the Festival international de la littérature in September 2025.