As has been the case every year for over 30 years, the Regional Book Fair will celebrate local authors, with its literary prizes, during its annual event which will once again be held at the Delta Saguenay Convention Centre, from September 26 to 29.
Each of the five winners will receive a $1,000 scholarship at the unveiling evening on Thursday, September 26.
Sébastien Gagnon won two literary prizes two years ago. (Michel Tremblay/Archives Le Quotidien)
In the Youth category, two regulars of this evening find themselves nominated. Jeannois Sébastien Gagnon, for his novel On the mountain peakand Chicoutimi writer Larry Tremblay, for The blower.
For the Discovery category too, the jury’s choice will be between two finalists: the multidisciplinary artist Soleil Launière, recent winner of the Francouvertes who shows that her talents are far from limited to music with her work Acuteas well as Moïra-Uashteskun Bacon, also from Mashteuiatsh, who attracted attention with Fly away, Mikun.
Mylène Bouchard is nominated in the Poetry/Theater category. (Tom Core/Archives Le Quotidien)
For the other three categories, trios of finalists were revealed on Thursday.
The podium in Poetry / Theater – the order of which has yet to be specified – is composed of Mylène Bouchard for her collection of poetry The stars have come closerby Larry Tremblay for the theatrical work Feeling oldand Soleil Launière, once again for his book Acute.
(Michel Tremblay, Le Quotidien/Archives Le Quotidien)
With his very first novel, Like a long tank accidentAlmatois Joël Martel finds himself in the running in the Novel / Story / Short Stories category. He finds himself in good company there, alongside Michelle Lapierre-Dallaire, who, as with her previous novel, convinced the jury – this time for I ask you to close your eyes and imagine a quiet place – and the Jonquiérois by origin Claude Ferland Milewski, whose The Octopusis intended to be a first novel.
Finally, the finalists in the General Interest category are Mélikah Abdelmoumen for Ordinary commitmentsJean Désy for Treating medicine and Frédérick Lavoie for Trouble the waters.
The next edition of the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Book Fair will be the 60th in the event’s history.
To read the jury’s comments, click here.