“This festival is not a festival like the others, and intends to remain so”

After two years of health crisis and the death in January 2021 of its founder Michel Le Bris, the Étonnants Voyageurs festival is once again welcoming its public to Saint-Malo from June 4 to 6, for a Pentecost weekend under the sign of imagination and re-enchantment, in a particularly dark context.

A “recovery” edition

“We are coming out of two years of health crisis and we are very happy to finally be able to welcome the public again” underlines Jean-Michel Le Boulanger, the new president of the festival. He announces a “recovery edition” who will be “marked by caution, but not in total temperance”specifies this teacher, writer, responsible for several years in charge of Culture in the Brittany Region, recalling how the organization of a festival, and especially this one, “cannot be done without a good dose of enthusiasm”.

An “abundant” edition

“We will not abandon any of the values ​​held by Michel Le Bris”solemnly declared Jean-Michel Le Boulanger during the presentation conference of the festival in Paris on May 18 in the premises of the Scam (Civil society of multimedia authors), partner of the event.

“The festival will remain in the tradition of Michel Le Bris, with this bubbling, this abundance of thought which was important to him”

Melani Le Bris

Director of the Etonnants Voyageurs festival

“He is no longer there, but in fact he is still there”she says. “When I was preparing the program for this 32nd edition, I often had an internal dialogue with him. I heard him say to me, be careful, there are too many overlapping things, do it like this or like that”.

150 guest writers from 35 countries will be expected during this weekend, including the Franco-Moroccan Leïla Slimani, the Prix Goncourt 2021 Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, the Senegalese philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne, the Cuban journalist and writer Leonardo Padura, the Franco-Canadian Nancy Huston, journalist writer Sorj Chalendon, Australian author Richard Flanagan and comic book author Riad Sattouf. More than 220 events including meetings, exhibitions, film screenings and a book fair will take place in various places in Saint-Malo.

A festival to “re-enchant the world”

“We are smugglers”explains Mélani Le Bris. “We are here to share imaginations, and in this dark period there is a real need to give writers a voice, and to listen to them”she points out. “The first writer to have accepted our invitation is Andrei Kurkov. His latest book is completely in the angle that we have chosen this year, since it talks about the war, but it is also a stuffed book of humanity, of light, and that’s the magic of the novel, it’s this ability to re-enchant the world”. The Ukrainian writer of Russian origin and the guest of honor of the 2022 edition.

The festival will also explore the theme of nature, “present at the heart of the novel, in literary news, and not only addressed in the essays” notes Mélani Le Bris. “We will also talk about our relationship to animality, migrants, reception, the question of hospitality”, she says. Also on the program, history, adventure, the sea, comics, theatrical writing, Tunisia, the French-speaking world… The 2022 edition will indeed be abundant.

literary prizes

The festival will award six prizes during this 32nd edition: the Joseph Kessel Prize of the Scam, the Robert Ganzo Prize for poetry, the Ouest-France Etonnants Voyageurs Prize, awarded by a jury of young people aged 15 to 20, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, won this year by A dacha in the gulf (Editions Métailié) by Emilio Sanchez Mediavilla, the Nicolas Bouvier prize and finally the Prix des Gens de Mer.

Dialogue with the other arts

The Festival Étonnants Voyageurs offers a cinema program, “in dialogue with literature” through screenings but also meetings, round tables, and “a reflection on the relationship between documentaries and non-fiction”. “Several exhibitions, with nearly 400 original works exhibited at the Chapelle Saint-Sauveur” also announces Mélani Le Bris.

A festival for young people

Ahead of the festival, two days dedicated to schoolchildren in Breton establishments. More than 3,000 young people also participated in a major short story competition on the theme of re-enchantment. And finally, throughout the weekend, young audiences will be able to take advantage of a youth area called “Treasure Island”, at the Palais du Grand Large, with workshops, readings, meetings and shows.

The unmissable Literary Café

Launched 32 years ago, the literary café, which sees writers take turns from morning to evening, to share their passion for literature and to debate, will be at the rendezvous of this 32nd edition. “It’s the central island of the festival”says Maëtte Chantrel, co-founder of the festival and host of this unmissable festival event since 1990. “Some visitors come every year, they sit in the front row, and they don’t move for the whole festival. They don’t do anything else!”says Maëtte Chantrel.

A festival “like no other”

“The Étonnants Voyageurs festival is not a festival like the others”recalls Mélani Le Bris. “It’s not just about organizing round tables with writers, or promoting books that include literary news”she says. “We want to put the question of the power of literature at the center, this is what was most important for Michel Le Bris”insists the director. “And particularly in this period marked by a health crisis, a social, societal crisis, with a Europe that is bleeding before our eyes” insists Jean-Michel Le Boulanger.

The 2022 edition will be placed under the sign of “love of books”announces its president, who insists on the plural, “the strength of the plural, which builds the adventure of democracies, which makes it possible to confront ideas, which allows debate, the development of opinions, ideas, and imaginations”he believes. “This festival is not a festival like the others, and we expect it to remain so”concludes Mélani Le Bris.

Amazing Travelers Festival
From June 4 to 6, 2022 in Saint-Malo (Ile-et-Vilaine)