The Readers’ Prize of the City of Lausanne is above all a prize at the service of its authors and their books: ” Opening the votes to as many people as possible means above all going further to promote the voices and faces of writers from French-speaking Switzerland. “, explains Isabelle Falconnier, delegate for the book policy of Lausanne. For this eighth edition, the prize continues to encourage literary creation, public reading, but also, and above all, to promote the French-speaking literary scene while drawing attention to those selected.
Inviting the whole of Switzerland and the Francophonie to discover the works in competition (published during the past year) will help the books and their authors to reach a much wider audience. Grégoire Junod, Trustee [maire, NdR] of the city of Lausanne, to add to ActuaLitté: ” After seven editions operating with a popular jury and a president of the jury, we wanted to go to the end of what a public prize allows, that is to give the floor to all readers. »
And to continue: I am delighted that the City of Lausanne thus plays a role of literary prescription. »
The idea of opening the vote was born from several observations, continues Isabelle Falconnier. ” First of all, a certain frustration of our public, who applied to become a juror without however being selected. A digital vote thus allows the public who follows the meetings and knows the price to become an actor in the latter. Erasing the borders, he logically draws attention to the selected authors, ” representatives of a very diverse and lively French-speaking literary scene “, which however has difficulty in making itself known to the whole of the French-speaking world.
Discover the faces and voices of Lausanne
Nominated by the professionals of the Libraries of the city of Lausanne, this year, the five authors in the running are
• Raluca Antonescu with inflorescence,
• Rose-Marie Pagnard with Gloria Vinyl,
• Thierry Luterbacher with Illegalist,
• Anne-Frederique Rochat with Long nights and short days
• Julien Sansonnens with Eternal Septembers.
This eighth edition acts as a test, in the form of an appeal to readers from all over the French-speaking world. The site also makes all five books of the 2022 vintage available, from January 3 to March 15, for free reading. (browse here) Everyone will thus have all the cards in hand to discover the voices of these authors, read their works and vote for the one of their choice.
A free distribution which does not take place to the detriment of the authors or their publishers since a license agreement has been made so that this distribution is remunerated.
Isabelle Falconnier also talks about this 2022 selection with real passion. “The five works in our 2022 Selection, carried by five endearing and talented French-speaking authors and authors, offer a beautifully diversified palette of readings, both in content and form, in style or in theme. » Family secret, intimate literature, but also societal criticism going as far as political reflection, the 2022 selection presents a very complete range of literary creation sensibilities found in French-speaking Switzerland.
The votes will take place following the cycle of meetings with the various authors in the running, the last of which will take place on February 12. The announcement of the winner and the presentation of the prize will take place in turn on March 31, 2022, during a public evening at the Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne, broadcast live on the La Télé Vaud Fribourg channel.
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Starting in Lausanne, the city’s readers’ literary prize goes global