three authors finalist for the Grand Prize

The two French women Catherine Meurisse and Anouk Ricard, as well as the American Alison Bechdel, will be in the running, from January 29 to February 2, for the most prestigious award in the world of comics.

LThe French Catherine Meurisse and Anouk Ricard as well as the American Alison Bechdel have been named finalists for the Grand Prix of the 52nd Angoulême International Comics Festival, which takes place from January 29 to February 2, the organizers announced. This distinction, the most prestigious in the world of comics, rewards an original work in the graphic novel and was awarded in 2024 to the British Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe, Gemma Bowery…)

Since 2014, this Grand Prize has been awarded following a two-round ballot in which all comic book authors published at least once in French can participate. It will be awarded this year on January 29, at the opening of the festival. Already a finalist in the five previous editions, Catherine Meurisse, a 44-year-old designer who passed through Charlie Hebdoregularly features in comics with philosophical and meditative resonances (Human, too human, The Great Outdoors…) Her compatriot Anouk Ricard, 54, started in the youth press before continuing her career in comics by publishing Anna and Frogaa humorous project aimed at young people, and another humor series, rather adult, Commissioner Toumi.

The third finalist, Alison Bechdel, 64, is a figure in the American counterculture and the LGBTQ movement. Published in 2006, his autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home had caused a sensation by recounting the torments that she and her father had each gone through due to their difficulties in coming to terms with their homosexuality. This author, whose drawings regularly populate the famous American weekly The New Yorkeralso gave its name to the “Bechdel test” which makes it possible to evaluate the degree of sexism in a fiction based on three criteria: if at least two female characters appear in it, if they speak together and if their exchanges have nothing to do with a man. Other distinctions will be awarded during the Angoulême festival, including the Fauve d’or for the best album of the year.