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 (France).
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 slipped 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 Nominees are decided (8th of April 2016) 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 writers there are also euro-continental authors nominated as Valerio Evangelisti (Italy), icelandic writers as Andri Snær Magnason (not an euro-continental, definitely ! but also an european 
) and international writers as Mamare Touno (Japan), Edogawa Ranpo (pen name of Tarô Hirai, Japan).
Laurent Genefort – Lum’en (Le Bélial’)
Francis Berthelot – Abîme du rêve/Abyss Dream (Dystopia)
Mika Biermann – Booming (Anacharsis)
David Calvo – Sous la colline/Under the Hill (La Volte)
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)
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:
Laurent Genefort – Ethfrag (Bifrost n° 78)
Sébastien Juillard – Il faudrait pour grandir oublier la frontière/To Grow You Should Forget The Border(Scylla)
Jérôme Noirez – Welcome Home (Utopiales 2015 – Actu SF)
Bernard Quiriny – Histoires assassines/Murderous Stories (Rivages)
International Short Story:
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)
Francophone Youth Novel:
Camille Brissot – Vagabonds des airs/Air Tramps (L’Atalante)
Christelle Dabos – La Passe-miroir/Through the Mirror, tome 1 et tome 2 (Gallimard)
Florence Hinckel – #Bleue/#Blu (Syros)
Jérôme Noirez – Brainless (Gulf Stream)
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)
Mamare Touno/Japan – Log Horizon (Ofelbe)
Polly Shulman/USA – The Grimm Legacy/La malédiction Grimm (1 & 2) (Bayard)
Translators (Jacques Chambon Award):
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’)
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 (Wojtek Siudmak Award):
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)
Hervé Leblan – Janua Vera & Récits du Vieux royaume/Janua Vera & Stories of the Old Kingdom byJean-Philippe Jaworski (Gallimard)
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)
Jérôme Zonder – Galaxies n°36/78
Essay
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)
(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 (Prix spécial)
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)
Natacha Vas-Deyres and Richard Comballot – Carnets chronolytiques de Michel Jeury/Michel Jeury’s Chronolythic Diaries (Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux)
The Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2016 winners will be announced just before the start of the Étonnants Voyageurs Festival from Saint-Malo (14th – 16th of May 2016) during which the GPI Awards will be granted.
http://mesimaginaires.net/2016/04/08/nomines-gpi-2016/
