Eve Guerra, Yasmina Liassine, and Gyslain Ngueno are on the Prix Littéraire Québec-France Marie-Claire Blais 2025 longlist announced on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
Marie-Claire Blais was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Quebec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, newspaper articles, radio dramas, and scripts for television. She passed away in 2021.
In 2005, Prix Littéraire Québec-France Marie-Claire Blais (English: Québec-France Marie-Claire-Blais Literary Prize), a literary award celebrating a first novel written in French by a French national residing in France, was founded in her honour. It is supported by the Consulate General of France in Quebec City, the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec, the Associations Québec-France, and various partners.
The 2025 edition has a pre-selection jury of Louise Bourget, Hélène Caron Larouche, and Christine Otis who will select three finalists from the 11 writers in the running in the spring of 2025. The longlist announced featured the following writers of African descent;
- Rapatriement, Eve Guerra (Grasset)
- L’oiseau des Français, Yasmina Liassine (Sabine Wespieser)
- Peau rouge, Gyslain Ngueno (L’oiseau parleur)
Gyslain Ngueno said on Social Media, “I thank the Jury and the @lecturetete for this honor and I am delighted to see the story of Benny, Maéline, Lucas, Mrs. Doumbe, and Kandrapoulos travel. There is no advertising, no press officer, no big media machine behind this book. So thank you to the booksellers, literary festivals, and readers who are the only supporters allowing it to make this beautiful journey. Not forgetting my publishing house @loiseauparleureditions. Long live books.”
The final decision will be made by the reading committees of the Associations du Réseau Québec-France/Francophonie, which bring together around a hundred literature enthusiasts from across Quebec. The winner, to be announced in April, will receive the Prize certificate and a $2,000 grant before embarking on a promotional tour in several regions of Quebec.
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