And the winner is… a winner. This year, the Angoulême Grand Prix will inevitably go to a woman: at the end of the first round of voting for authors, announced this Wednesday at noon, there are three still in competition: Alison Bechdel, Catherine Meurisse and Anouk Ricard.
This is not a first since the scenario had already occurred in 2022. One of them will therefore become the fifth woman, if we count the Special Grand Prize awarded to Claire Bretécher in 1982, to be entered his name in this Pantheon of comics. She will succeed an author, the British Posy Simmonds, victorious last year and who is the subject of a major exhibition during this 52nd edition (January 29-February 2).
Catherine Meurisse, the former Charlie Hebdo
For Catherine Meurisse, 44, this is becoming a habit: she has not left the top three since 2020, or six nominations. Former Charlie Hebdo cartoonist and survivor of the attack of January 7, 2015, she has since established herself as an important figure in French comics, notably with the sensitive albums “la Légèreté”, “les Grands Espaces” and more recently “ Human, too human.” In 2020, she was the first comic book author to be elected to the Academy of Fine Arts, “engraving and drawing” section.
Alison Bechdel, the leading figure of American “queer” comics
A leading figure in American “queer” comics and lesbian activist, Alison Bechdel, 64, is little known to the general public in France. In the USA, she exploded in 2006 with the publication of “Fun Home”, a graphic and autobiographical novel about her father’s suicide and the quest for a sexual identity. Critically acclaimed and popular with audiences, it was adapted into a successful Broadway musical. The author is also known for giving her name to the Bechdel test, which measures the degree of feminism in films. His name already appeared in the “short list” for the Grand Prix in 2023.
Anouk Ricard, the decorative arts graduate
For Anouk Ricard, 54 years old, however, it is a first. A graduate of the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts, she first worked extensively for the press and children’s publishing. Her first book, “The Adventures of Pafy, Pouly, Catty, Blatty” came out in 1999. But it was her series “Anna and Froga”, in 2004, which made her successful: she was named several times in the youth selections at the Angoulême festival and exported abroad. Success was also achieved for his first adult comic “Commissaire Toumi” (2008). In 2012, the album “Coucous Bouzon” was crowned with several awards and in 2023, “Animan” received a Special Jury Prize in Angoulême.
It’s up to the authors to make their choice. The Grand Prize will be announced on January 29 at the opening of the festival.
