Nelly Arcan (Journal de Montreal file photo)

Popular Quebec author Nelly Arcan died last night at the age of 35.

A spokeswoman for her publishing house Coup de tete, Myriam Comtois, confirmed Arcan's death, but refused to elaborate on what might have caused it. But Montreal police said Friday they are treating it as a suicide.

Arcan, whose real name was Isabelle Fortier, was born in 1975 in Lac-Megantic in the Eastern Townships.

The author, who had recently completed her next novel, Paradis clef en main, made a name for herself with the novels Putain, Folle and A ciel ouvert. Putain earned her nominations for two prestigious French-language literature awards, Medicis and Femina.

-- with files from The Canadian Press