The Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (GPI, “Great Prize of the Imaginary”), is one of the most prestigious speculative fiction awards from Europe.
Until 1992 the Grand Prix de la Science-Fiction Française, is a French literary award for speculative fiction, established in 1972 by the writer Jean-Pierre Fontana as part of the science fiction convention of Clermont-Ferrand.
Initially purely a science fiction award, the award’s scope was widened to encompass all fields of speculative fiction in 1992.
From 2000 to 2010 it was awarded as part of the Utopiales festival in Nantes.
It is now part of the Étonnants Voyageurs (Amazing Travelers) Festival of Saint-Malo :
https://www.etonnants-voyageurs.com/
The shortlist for the 2020 Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, honoring the best SF/F work published in France in 2019, has been announced:
French Novel
- Vie™ [Life™], Jean Baret (Le Bélial’)
- Les Furtifs [The Stealthy], Alain Damasio (La Volte)
- Le Chant mortel du soleil [The Deadly Song of the Sun], Franck Ferric (Albin Michel)
- Les Machines fantômes [The Ghost Machines], Olivier Paquet (L’Atalante)
Foreign Novel
- Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (L’Atalante)
- Trop semblable à l’éclair [Too Like the Lightning], Ada Palmer (Le Bélial’)
- L’Effondrement de l’empire [The Collapsing Empire], John Scalzi (L’Atalante)
- Chasseurs & Collectionneurs [Hunters & Collectors], M. Suddain (Au diable vauvert)
French Short Fiction
- “La Longue patience de la forêt” [The Long Patience of the Forest], Christian Léourier (Bifrost 1/19)
- Helstrid, Christian Léourier (Le Bélial’)
- Faites comme si vous étiez morts [Pretend You Are Dead] Sammy Sapin (L’Arbre vengeur)
Foreign Short Fiction
- Son corps et autres célébrations [Her Body and Other Parties], Carmen Maria Machado (L’Olivier)
- “La Fille qui saigne” [The Daughter that Bleeds], Shweta Taneja (Galaxies 3/19)
- Les Meurtres de Molly Southbourne [The Murders of Molly Southbourne], Tade Thompson (Le Bélial’)
- “ZeroS”, Peter Watts (Bifrost 1/19)
French YA Novel
- L’Arrache-mots, Judith Bouilloc (Hachette jeunesse)
- Cogito, Victor Dixen (Robert Laffont)
- Le Démêleur de rêves, Carina Rozenfeld (Scrineo)
- Félines, Stéphane Servant (Rouergue)
- L’Estrange Malaventure de Mirella, Flore Vesco (L’École des loisirs)
Foreign YA Novel
- L’Anti-magicien, tomes 1 à 4 [Spellslinger, Shadowblack, Charmcaster, and Soulbinder], Sebastien De Castell (Gallimard jeunesse)
- La Voix des ombres [A Skinful of Shadows], Frances Hardinge (Gallimard jeunesse)
- La Faucheuse, tomes 1 à 3 [Scythe, Thunderhead, and The Toll], Neal Shusterman (Robert Laffont)
- Nevermoor, tomes 1 & 2 [Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow and Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow], Jessica Townsend (Pocket jeunesse)
Jacques Chambon Translation Prize
- Michelle Charrier for Trop semblable à l’éclair [Too Like the Lightning], Ada Palmer (Le Bélial’)
- Florence Dolisi for Aurora, Kim Stanley Robinson (Bragelonne)
- Laure Hinckel for Solénoïde [Solenoid], Mircea Cărtărescu (Noir sur Blanc)
- Hélène Papot for Son corps et autres célébrations [Her Body and Other Parties], Carmen Maria Machado (L’Olivier)
- Denis E. Savine for Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (L’Atalante)
Wojtek Siudmak Award for Art
- Philippe Aureille for Les Îles noires, Sylvie Lainé (Organic)
- Benjamin Carré for L’Alchimie de la pierre, Ekaterina Sedia (Pocket)
- Didier Graffet for Effluvium, Didier Graffet & Xavier Mauméjean (Bragelonne)
- Aurélien Police for Les Machines fantômes, Olivier Paquet (L’Atalante)
- Guillaume Sorel for Nouvelles, tomes 1 & 2, Jack Vance (Le Bélial’)
Non-Fiction
- La revue Anticipation n°2: L’Odyssée spatiale, Marcus Dupont-Besnard & Jeanne L’Hévéder, eds. (Books on Demand)
- Lovecraft: Je suis Providence, S.T. Joshi (ActuSF)
- Station Metropolis direction Coruscant, Alain Musset (Le Bélial’)
Prix Spécial
- L’Arbre vengeur for their heritage work
- Le Bélial’ for Nouvelles, Jack Vance
- Jean-Pierre Dionnet for his work in the service of pop culture, described in Mes moires, un pont sur les étoiles (Hors Collection)
- Fleur Hopkins for the exhibition “Le Merveilleux scientifique” at the BnF
- The BnF for the “Tolkien, Voyage en Terre du Milieu” exhibition
Winners will be announced May 30, 2020. For more information, see the official website.
