The novel The island without a bridge (XYZ), by Yannick Marcoux, is one of the three finalist novels for the Prix France-Québec 2023. The colleague and literary critic at Duty thus finds himself in the running alongside Alain Beaulieu, for The shelter (Druide), and Dominique Scali, with Sailors can’t swim (The People). By this selection, in a completely different tone from that of last year which had created an outcry in the Quebec literary community, the France-Quebec prize seems to want to restore its literary authority.
The magazine Booksellers wrote from Island without a bridge that “throughout this story where a man must return from the sea to better pursue his lineage, the word is right, the reflections are skilful, the feelings true”. This second book by Yannick Marcoux follows the collection of poetry The horizon of lighthouses (Hammock, 2021).
Sailors can’t swim, by Dominique Scali, was one of the finalists for the Prix des collégiens earlier this year, which was finally won by fancy molasses (The Wick), by Francis Ouellette. From the latest opus of Mme Scali, Christian Desmeules underlined in our pages the imagination and the remarkable mastery.
This second novel by the author, over 700 pages, plunges “into a kind of 18e “alternative” century, on Ys, a not at all paradisiacal island lost in the middle of the North Atlantic, equidistant from Europe and America. »
The shelter, for its part, is the twelfth novel of the writer from Quebec Alain Beaulieu, with the constant course and now of long course. Mr. Beaulieu saw some of his previous books being nominated as finalists for literary awards (France-Quebec, Governor General) without ever having won the prize yet.
“While respecting the codes of the detective novel, The shelter deploys existential questions,” the magazine noted. Quebec lettersemphasizing its social significance.
This selection of finalists lends itself little to criticism.
In recent years, the France-Québec Prize has lost its luster, in addition to experiencing fluctuations in its governance. In 2019, the fog that surrounded the selection of the finalists – there were then eight – had annoyed actors in the Quebec literary community. The pre-selection of the prize was done more “French style”, we understood then, without real established criteria and more by favorites of a single reader.
Last year, rebelote: The three finalists had not been noticed by critics or booksellers. Above all, they seemed to demonstrate a stereotypical vision of Quebec, very made in France, as a “folk” choice rather than a reflection of Quebec literature. This had caused another stinging effect.
Are these crises a thing of the past? The future will tell.
The Prix France-Québec, twin of the Prix Marie-Claire Blais, has existed since 1998 and aims to introduce French readers to Quebec literature. The winner, who will be named next November, will win a scholarship of 5,000 euros and a literary tour organized by the Association des études québécoises.