Prix littéraire des ambassadeurs francophones

On Monday, October 16, 2023, Canadian writer Juliana Léveillé-Trudel will receive the Prix littéraire des ambassadeurs francophones 2023 from HRH Princess Marie.

The award ceremony, which will take place at the French Embassy (Palais Thott), will be followed by a program of literary encounters on Tuesday October 17 and Wednesday October 18.

The "Prix littéraire des Ambassadeurs des pays ayant en partage l'usage du français" was created in 2002 by the ambassadors of countries with diplomatic representation in Denmark, and which are members of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (OIF) or in which the French language enjoys a special status.

Under the patronage of H.R.H. Princess Marie, the prize is awarded every two years for a French-language novel translated into Danish, with the aim of raising Danish readers' awareness of the culture of French-speaking countries. Institut français du Danemark, whose mission is to promote exchanges between French and Danish culture and language, is responsible for planning and promoting the prize.

Nirliit by Juliana Léveillé-Trudel awarded in 2023
Published by La Peuplade in 2015, and translated by Ann-Jette Caron for Jensen og Dalgaard in 2021.
A young woman from the South who, like the geese, often makes the journey to Salluit, talks to Eva, her missing friend from the North, whose body is in the water of the fjord and whose spirit is everywhere. The North is hard - "there's violent love between the walls of these almost identical houses" - and the missionary adventurer wonders "how one goes about healing one's heart". She works hard, caring for the children who populate her days, giving a voice to the little Inuit girls, and also telling Eva what happens to her son Elijah, because there's bound to be a continuity, a descendant, after passion, then death.

The 2023 winner
Born in Montreal in 1985, Juliana Léveillé-Trudel writes in a variety of genres: novels (Nirliit and On a tout l'automne, La Peuplade, 2015 and 2022), children's literature (Comment attraper un ours qui aime lire and Voyage de Nuit à la bibli, Crackboom, 2018 and 2022, co-written with Andrew Katz) and theater (Nous ne saurons jamais dire j'habite, Théâtre Pàp and À tour de rôle, coming in 2025). Her work has been translated into English, Spanish, Icelandic, Danish, Basque and Arabic. She has staged several of her theatrical and literary creations and founded Productions de brousse.

With her first novel, Juliana Léveillé-Trudel delivers a tale of love and friendship as beautiful and rugged as the tundra. Nirliit shares the "punch-in-the-belly beauty" of the North.

PROGRAM

• Tuesday, October 17, 3pm: book signing at Arnold Busck bookshop (Købmagergade 49, Copenhagen K)
• Tuesday, October 17 at 5pm: literary encounter (in French) at Den franske Bogcafé (Fiolstræde 16, Copenhagen K)
• Wednesday October 18 at 6pm: literary encounter (in English) at Thiemers Magasin (Tullinsgade 24, Copenhagen V)

Juliana Léveillé-Trudel's visit is organized in partnership with Air Canada.