MONTREAL - A surge of bilingualism in Quebec has one of the province's most popular writers threatening to burn his entire body of work if something isn't done to stop it.

Victor-Levy Beaulieu, the author of some 70 works of fiction, non-fiction, drama and poetry, is giving the province two months to correct its errant linguistic ways, or the books will burn.

Beaulieu, 62, started making good on his symbolic ultimatum earlier this week by tossing a copy of his most recent novel, "La Grande Tribu,'' into the wood stove at his remote cottage northeast of Quebec City.

"Bilingualism opens the door to an assault by the anglicized elites of Quebec, who tell us we all have to be at least bilingual,'' he said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"It's like we forgot that Bill 101 proclaimed that French was the only official language of Quebec.''

Beaulieu's gambit was sparked by a suggestion this month by Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois. She said Quebec school children could benefit from taking more classes in English.

That was tantamount to an "act of treachery'' for the ardent separatist Beaulieu, who earlier this month accused Marois of paving the way for francophone assimilation.

Even if his threat is symbolic, Beaulieu hopes it will send a strong message to Quebecers.

"I'm admitting that my life as a writer has counted for nothing since we're in the process of being anglicized,'' he said.

"(An anglicized Quebec) doesn't interest me. I'd rather admit that I failed, that I worked for nothing and burn my work.''

Recent studies that predict francophones will soon drop to a minority in Montreal add urgency the threat, Beaulieu says.

"We can't even teach our children French properly,'' Beaulieu said in French.

"First let's learn our language, then we can talk about bilingualism and multilingualism.''

Beaulieu claims to be unilingual by choice but he admits he is practically bilingual despite his best efforts.

He has written major studies on such literary giants of the English-speaking world as Jack Kerouac, James Joyce and even Margaret Atwood.

Beaulieu, better known as VLB to his fans, is considered among the greatest of contemporary Quebec writers. He won the Governor General's Award in 1974 and was nominated twice more in 1983 and 1991.

Along with penning enough books to topple a bookshelf, he has also written for Quebec television shows and heads a successful publishing house.

Beaulieu rejects the characterization that he is simply a cantankerous child of the Quiet Revolution who has long-harboured a hatred for the rest of Canada.

"My problem isn't with English Canada, it's with Quebec,'' he said. "I don't want to become an anglophone. I want to conserve, preserve, defend and improve the language into which I was born, the language my ancestors gave me.''

Beaulieu said he will spend the next two months reflecting on the future. He hopes his stunt will spark a wide-ranging debate on Quebec identity during which Quebecers will reaffirm their desire for a country.

He fears that unless action is taken by the province's leaders, Quebec nationalists will lose the gains they have made over the past 170 years.

"We are in the process of returning to the point we were at in the 19th century, before the rebellions of 1837 and 1938,'' he said.

If torching a body of work that took 45 years to create appears a bit extreme, Beaulieu maintains he doesn't have a choice.

"I don't know what's going to come of this two-month period,'' he said.

"But if I burn the books I will be choosing to disappear.''