Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (Great Award of the Imaginary) is a French award for speculative fiction created in 1974 by the writer and critic Jean-Pierre Fontana at the Clermont-Ferrand Festival of Science Fiction. It’s the oldest still active french literary prize and it covers science fiction, fantastika, fantasy, various fusions of these sub-genres and transfictions
Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (Great Award of the Imaginary) is one of the most important European SF&F Awards.
Originally titled “Grand Prix de la Science-Fiction Française” (Great Award of the French Science Fiction), it was renamed Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire in 1992, which corresponds to an extension of its jurisdiction.
The Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (GPI) is the oldest French SFF award still active – since 1974 – as well as the most prestigious devoted to “Literature of the Imagination”. The term „imaginaire” (imaginary) covers all “pulp fictional types” such as science fiction, fantasy, fantastika, horror as well as various mergers or “transfictions” as some non-mimetic elements sliped insidiously into the mainstream.
The Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire is presented in May at the Étonnants Voyageurs (Amazing Travellers – International Book & Film Festival) in Saint-Malo : 14-16 of May 2016.
Each year, the jury composed of specialists (writers, critics, journalists, translators: Joëlle Wintrebert, Jean-Luc Rivera, Pascal Patoz, Bruno Para, Jean-Claude Dunyach, François Angelier, Sandrine Brugot-Maillard, Olivier Legendre, Jean-Claude Vantroyen), is rewarding the best SF&F published in French from several categories, the number has changed over the years. To date, these categories are ten.
Saturday 23rd of January 2016, the jurors of the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire (The Great Award of the Imaginary) debated and decided about the First Round of Nominees.
The Second Round will be decided in April and the winners will be announced during the Étonnants Voyageurs (Amazing Travellers) Festival from Saint-Malo (Bretagne/Brittany, France), from 14th to 16th of May 2016.
Besides French, British, American and Canadian writers there are also euro-continental authors nominated as Valerio Evangelisti (Italy), Michal Ajvaz (Czech Republic), icelandic writers as Andri Snær Magnason (not an euro-continental, definitely ! but also an european 🙂 ) and international writers as Chi Ta-wei (Taiwan), Mamare Touno (Japan), Edogawa Ranpo (pen name of Tarô Hirai, Japan).
Francophone Novel :
Laurent Genefort – Lum’en (Le Bélial’)
Dominique Douay – La fenêtre de Diane/Diane’s Window (Les Moutons électriques)
Francis Berthelot – Abîme du rêve/Abyss Dream (Dystopia)
Mika Biermann – Booming (Anacharsis)
David Calvo – Sous la colline/Under the Hill (La Volte)
Fabien Cerutti – Le fou prend le roi/The Mad Takes The King (Mnémos)
Christian Chavassieux – Les nefs de Pangée/The Ships of Pangaea (Mnémos)
Jean-Laurent Del Socorro – Royaume de vent et de colères/Kingdom of Wind and Anger (ActuSF)
Cédric Ferrand – Sovok (Les Moutons électriques)
Stéphane Przybylski – Le château des millions d’années/The Castle of Millions of Years (Le Bélial’)
International Novel :
Andri Snær Magnason/Iceland – LoveStar (Zulma)
Michel Faber/UK – The Book of Strange New Things/Le livre des choses étranges et nouvelles (L’Olivier)
Christopher Priest/UK – Adjacent/L’Adjacent (Denoël)
China Mieville/UK – Embassytown/Légationville (Fleuve)
Charles Stross/UK – Accelerando (Piranha)
Jo Walton/UK-Canada – Farthing/Le cercle de Farthing (Denoël)
Eliza Granville/UK – Gretel and the Dark (Mirobole)
Ben H. Winters/USA – The Last Policeman/Dernier meurtre avant la fin du monde (Super 8 Éditions)
Ann Leckie/USA – Ancillary Justice/La justice de l’ancillaire (J’ai Lu)
Francophone Short Story:
Dave Côté – Les olives de Mélanie/The Olives of Melanie (Solaris n° 193)
Christophe Garreau – Supplices 2.0 pour poupée électrique/Supplices 2.0 for Electric Doll (Géante rouge n°23)
Laurent Genefort – Ethfrag (Bifrost n° 78)
Sébastien Juillard – Il faudrait pour grandir oublier la frontière/To Grow You Should Forget The Border (Scylla)
Éric Morlevat – Service public/Public Service (Galaxies n° 37/79)
Jérôme Noirez – Welcome Home (Utopiales 2015 – Actu SF)
Bruno Pochesci – Une vie ne suffit pas/A Life Is Not Enough (Galaxies n° 35/77
Bernard Quiriny, Histoires assassines/Murderous Stories (Rivages)
Laurence Rivière – Facteur X/X Factor (Bifrost n° 79)
International Short Story:
Christopher Priest/UK – An Infinite Summer/L’été de l’infini/(Le Bélial’)
Alex Burrett/UK –My Goat Ate Its Own Legs/Ma chèvre s’est mangé les pattes (Aux Forges de Vulcain)
Ken Liu/USA – The Paper Menagerie/La ménagerie de papier (Le Bélial’)
Mike Resnick/USA – Alastair Baffle’s Emporium of Wonders/Le bazar aux merveilles d’Alastair Baffle , Galaxies n° 34/76
Connie Willis/USA – Inside Job/Infiltration, “Les Veilleurs” collection (J’ai Lu)
Connie Willis/USA – All Seated on the Ground/Tous assis par terre, “Les Veilleurs” collection (J’ai Lu)
Francophone Youth Novel:
Camille Brissot – Vagabonds des airs/Air Tramps (L’Atalante)
Nadia Coste – Le premier/ The first (Scrinéo)
Christelle Dabos – La Passe-miroir/Through the Mirror, tome 1 et tome 2 (Gallimard)
Victor Dixen – Phobos, tome 1 et tome 2 (Robert Laffont)
Florence Hinckel – #Bleue/#Blu (Syros)
Loïc Le Borgne – iL (Syros)
Jérôme Noirez – Brainless (Gulf Stream)
Pierre Stolze – Le monastère caché/The Hidden Monastery (Le Verger des Hespérides)
Aurélie Wellenstein – Le roi des fauves/The King of Beasts (Scrinéo)
International Youth Novel :
Ian Beck/UK –The Secret History of Tom Trueheart, Boy Adventurer/Tom Cœurvaillant (1 -3) (Mijade)
Neil Gaiman/UK – Fortunately, the Milk/Par bonheur, le lait (Au Diable Vauvert)
David Hofmeyr/UK – Stone Rider (Gallimard)
Alex Scarrow/UK – TimeRiders series (9 volumes at Nathan Press)
Melinda Salisbury/UK – The Sin Eater’s Daughter/L’Héritière (Gallimard)
Mamare Touno/Japan – Log Horizon (Ofelbe)
Polly Shulman/USA – The Grimm Legacy/La malédiction Grimm (1 & 2) (Bayard)
Translators :
Benoît Meunier – L’autre ville/Druhé město/The Other City (1993) by Michal Ajvaz/Czech Republic (Mirobole)
Jacques Barbéri – L’Evangile selon Eymerich/Rex tremendae maiestatis (2010) by Valerio Evangelisti/Italy (La Volte)
Nathalie Mège – Embassytown/Légationville by China Miéville/UK (Fleuve)
Pierre-Paul Durastanti – The Paper Menagerie/La ménagerie de papier by Ken Liu/USA (Le Bélial’)
Gwennaël Gaffric – Membrane by Chi Ta-wei/Taiwan (L’Asiathèque)
Miyako Slocombe – Le démon de l’île solitaire/The Demon of the Lonely Isle (孤島の鬼 Kotō no Oni, 1929-30) by Edogawa Ranpo/pen name of Tarô Hirai/Japan (1894-1965) (Wombat)
Patrick Marcel – Ancilary Justice/La justice de l’ancillaire by Ann Leckie/USA (J’ai Lu)
Cover Design Award :
Roberlan Borges – Philip K. Dick, simulacres et illusions/Philip K. Dick, Simulacra and Illusions, edited by Richard Comballot (ActuSF)
Xavier Collette – Le royaume immobile/The Motionless Kingdom by Pierre Pevel (Bragelonne)
Laurent Gapaillard – La Passe-miroir : Les fiancés de l’hiver (1) & Les Disparus du Clairdelune (2)/Through the Mirror (1 & 2) by Christelle Dabos (Gallimard)
Prince Gigi – Sovok by Cédric Ferrand (Les Moutons électriques)
Johann Goutard – Fondation/Foundation (1 &2) by Isaac Asimov/USA (Gallimard)
Philippe Jozelon – Échopraxie/Echopraxia (2014) by Peter Watts/Canada (Fleuve)
Hervé Leblan – Janua Vera & Récits du Vieux royaume/Janua Vera & Stories of the Old Kingdom by Jean-Philippe Jaworski (Gallimard)
Manchu – L’enchâssement/The Embedding (1973) by Ian Watson/UK (Le Bélial’)
Aurélien Police – L’été de l’infini/An Infinite Summer by Christopher Priest/UK and Le roi des fauves/King of Beasts by Aurélie Wellenstein (scrinéo)
Laurent Rivelaygue – Roche-nuée/Cloudrock (1988) by Gary Kilworth/UK (Scylla)
Eric Scala – Bifrost n°80 (Le Bélial’)
Jérôme Zonder – Galaxies n°36/78
Essay
La revue Romantisme/Romanticism Magazine n°170 : Le Merveilleux/The Marvelous (Armand Colin Press)
Les Chroniques de la science-fiction/Sci-Fi Chronicles: A Visual History of the Galaxy’s Greatest Science Fiction by Stephen Baxter & Guy Haley/UK (Muttpop)
Constellations by Anne Besson (CNRS)
Poétiques du merveilleux/The Poetics of The Marvelous, edited by Anne Besson & Evelyne Jacquelin (Artois Presses Université)
(Bé)vues du futur. Les imaginaires visuels de la dystopie (1840-1940)/Blunders of the Future. Visual imaginary dystopia (1840-1940), edited by Clément Dessy et Valérie Stienon (Presses Universitaires du Septentrion)
Le guide Howard/The Howard Guide – Patrice Louinet (ActuSF)
Effets spéciaux : deux siècles d’histoires/Special Effects: Two Centuries of Stories by Pascal Pinteau (Bragelonne Press)
Special Award
Callidor Press for the series L’Âge d’or de la fantasy/The Golden Age of Fantasy dedicated to the old/retranslated fantasy novels (three titles published)
La Volte Press for the integrality of the “Nicolas Eymerich” series by Valerio Evangelisti (Italy)
Francis Berthelot, Dystopia & Le Bélial’ Presses for the completion of the full edition of Rêve du démiurge/Dream of the Demiurge
Étienne Barillier, Arthur Morgan and Nicolas Meunier – La France steampunk/Steampunk France (Mnémos)
Philip K. Dick, simulacres et illusions/Philip K. Dick, Simulacra and Illusions, edited by Richard Comballot (ActuSF)
Natacha Vas-Deyres and Richard Comballot – Carnets chronolytiques de Michel Jeury/Michel Jeury’s Chronolythic Diaries (Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux)
http://mesimaginaires.net/2016/01/27/selection-gpi-2016/
