Quebec will be the guest of honor at the Paris Book Festival, for its third edition in April, the organizers announced Friday. This French-speaking province of Canada was the guest of the Paris Book Fair in 1999, the event which formerly celebrated literature in the French capital, and which held its last edition in 2019.
“While the poet Hélène Dorion is the first living Quebec author included in the French baccalaureate program, this invitation of honor is an excellent opportunity to focus our attention on French-speaking Quebec literature,” said the president of the Festival, Vincent Montagne. , quoted in a press release. “A delegation of around thirty authors” will visit the site. “I am delighted with the many positive impacts in the world of publishing and for the French language,” added the Minister of the French Language of Quebec, Jean-François Roberge, also quoted. The announcement was made on Thursday in Montreal.
Multiple awards in recent years have shown the growing respect in the world of French letters enjoyed by Quebec authors. Dominique Fortier received the 2020 Renaudot essay prize for Les Villes de papier. Julie Doucet was crowned with the Grand Prix of the 2022 Angoulême Festival, the most prestigious award in comics, for all of her work. And Kevin Lambert won the December and Medici 2023 prizes for his novel Que ma joie remain.
The Paris Book Festival, which is held at the ephemeral Grand Palais near the Eiffel Tower and other locations in the capital, attracted 102,000 visitors in April 2023. The 2024 edition of the Book Festival is scheduled from April 12 to April 14.