Quebec shines brightly at the Paris Book Festival

Quebec was the guest of honor at the Paris Book Festival, which opened on Friday. Éric Chacour, winner of the French Femina prize for high school students, tells us about the magical atmosphere reigning in the Quebec Pavilion at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where forty Quebec teachers are expected this weekend.

It is heresy. You should see the word “Quebec” in big white letters on a blue background, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, it's just amazing. We get a lot of love hereThe teacher explained What do I know about you? Culture columnist Catherine Richter's microphone on the show The 15-18Ahead of the opening of the festival to the general public.

Having split his life between France and Quebec, Éric Chacour is still surprised by the excitement surrounding Quebec literature on the other side of the Atlantic. His acclaimed debut novel and his companion Kevin Lambert's novel, May our happiness last, the Prix Médices 2023, certainly had something to do with it. But this call to France is the result of long-term work by Quebec publishers.

Québécois literature takes responsibility far from folklorization

In 1999, the Paris Book Fair (before it became a festival in 2022) already had Quebec at the center of its program. This year, 77 publishers and 42 Quebec authors have been invited to the festival.

Years to bring their catalog and their authors to France”,”text”:”This increase reflects all the energy that publishers have devoted to bringing their catalog and their authors to France in the last 25 years” }}” >This proliferation reflects all the energy that publishers have devoted over the last 25 years to building their catalogs and their authors in France.Explains publisher Élodie Comtois, French by birth and Quebecer by adoption, is commercial director of Éditions Écosociété in Montreal.