The Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix is awarded annually to a writer of international stature and accomplishment as a celebration of a lifetime of literary achievement. Previous recipients are Daniel Pennac (2008), Margaret Atwood (2007), Michel Tremblay (2006), Carlos Fuentes (2005), Paul Auster (2004), Maryse Condé (2003), Mavis Gallant (2002), Norman Mailer (2001) and Marie-Claire Blais (2000).
The prize is unusual both in the literary quality of the authors it honours and in the substance of the contributions it recognizes. The jury wishes, with this award, to recognize a lifetime of extraordinary achievement and to present the winner of the award to the reading public of Montreal at the Festival.
The winner is chosen by a jury consisting of members of the Board of Blue Metropolis Foundation who base their deliberations on the recommendation of the Programming Committee of the Festival. The Programming Committee consists of writers, professors, literary journalists, broadcasters, booksellers and readers from francophone and anglophone milieux as well as representatives of other linguistic groups. The criteria are as follows: the winner should be a writer of international stature and achievement in the literary arts with great appeal to the Festival public in one or more of the following ways:
- an ability to speak French and English (and/or another language),
- literary work published in translation in French and English (and perhaps other languages),
- a significant Montreal readership in French and English
- a willingness to meet that Montreal public at a Festival event at which the Prize will be awarded
Writers proposed to the jury may be of any nationality, including Canadian, they may be of any age, and they may be known for their achievements as writers in one or more of any of the literary arts (e.g. literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting, translation, etc.). The award is not linked to any particular publication or production.
Daniel Pennac: Recipient of the 2008 Blue Metropolis Literary Grand Prix
Blue Metropolis Literary Foundation is proud to announce that the winner of the 2008 Blue Metropolis Literary Grand Prix is the great French writer Daniel Pennac. The $10,000 award recognizes a lifetime of literary achievement by a writer of international reputation.
“To mark our 10th anniversary, we are very happy to bestow this year’s Literary Grand Prix to the French author whose work is of remarkable quality and range, Daniel Pennac,” said Linda Leith, Artistic Director and founder of Blue Metropolis Foundation.
Born in Casablanca in 1944, Daniel Pennac is one of the most translated of contemporary French writers with books for both adults and children appearing in more than 30 languages around the world. His first few books (Au bonheur des ogres, La fée carabine, and La petite marchande de prose) were met with immediate success, and his 1984 novel L'œil du loup was translated into English as Eye of the Wolf by Sarah Adams, winning her the 2005 Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation. Pennac is also the author of The Malaussene Saga, a series of novels set in the popular, racially mixed Belleville quarter in the eastern part of Paris. He has also penned a book containing his reflections on reading entitled Comme un roman. In addition to becoming a best-seller in France, this work has been translated for English readers as both Reads like a Novel and Better than Life. Pennac’s most recent work includes the book Le dictateur et le hamac, a play entitled Merci, and a collection of essays that deal with school from the point of view of a student. This last work, Chagrin d'école, won the Prix Renaudot in 2007.