Her “effective” pen and the “richness” of her style convinced the jury: the columnist Chantal Guy is the winner of the Jules-Fournier 2022 prize, an honor awarded each year by the Higher Council of the French language to a journalist from the print media in recognition of the quality of his writings.
Posted at 12:50 p.m.
“It’s probably the prize I coveted the most when I started my career,” says the new winner. “I’m very, very proud of it. »
After completing her bachelor’s degree in literary studies from the University of Quebec in Montreal, Chantal Guy started out as a cultural journalist in 1999 before doing an internship at The Press in 2001. Five years later, she was appointed arts journalist and director of the notebook Readings from Journal. Her reports on the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 (where she was to meet the writer Dany Laferrière) and on the attacks in Paris in November 2015 (during a stay as a correspondent in the French capital) marked the readers . Since 2019, she has been a columnist for the Arts section.
The jury highlighted his “mastery of the French language”, “the diversity of his vocabulary” as well as “the precision of his language”, qualities that allow him “to comment on social problems with accuracy and to deal with issues of interest with relevance”. “Also, she has a sense of storytelling that allows her to tell stories, create moments, arouse emotions and capture the reader’s attention. Finally, she knows how, through her texts, to combine the quality of the demonstration with the rhythm of the narration and the originality of the point of view. »
“The readers of The Press know it well: Chantal is a lover of words”, says the vice-president of information and assistant publisher, François Cardinal. “With her fine and well chiseled pen, she is able to explore with as much ease as intelligence subjects as diverse as literature, popular culture or the political situation in Haiti. His chronicles marked by tolerance, humor and sometimes a hint of self-mockery have enabled him to impose his own voice and style. This prestigious award fits him like a glove! »
The Conseil de la langue française also announced Thursday morning the awarding of the Raymond-Charrette 2022 prize to Radio-Canada journalist Azeb Wolde-Giorghis. The state corporation’s correspondent in Washington, the jury noted, ” knows how to combine the elegance of the style with the mastery of the French language, which proves to be at the same time natural, fair and innovative”. The Raymond-Charrette prize is awarded annually to a journalist from the radio and television press for “his exemplary contribution to the dissemination of quality French”.