Nelly Arcan (born Isabelle Fortier) was a Canadian novelist.
Her first novel, Putain, enjoyed immediate critical and media success and was a finalist for both the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina. Afterwards, Arcan wrote several short stories, opinion pieces and columns for various Quebec newspapers and literary magazines.
Arcan was found dead in Montreal on September 24, 2009. According to the Montreal police spokeperson, the cause of the author's death is not yet known, but they are treating it as a suicide. She had just finished writing her last book, Paradis clés en main.