Anne Wattel Wins
Prix Joël-Champetier

The sixth annual Prix Joël-Champetier has been awarded to Anne Wattel for her short story “Les Yeuses de Noire-Épine.” The award, named for the late editor of Solaris, recognizes non-Canadian short story authors who write in French, in the fields of sf and fantasy. 

Anne Wattel is a doctor and researcher in French language and literature at the University of Lille. She is a Professor of French who has taught at the Institut National Supérieur du Professorat. Her research focuses mainly on the novel of 20th and 21st centuries.

The members of the jury of the Joël-Champetier Prize particularly appreciated “Les Yeuses de Noire-Épine” for its “daring exploration of the limits of language, narrative structures and the mythical imagination, which manages to keep the dramatic and poetic tension of the tale until its bittersweet conclusion.”

Wattel wins a scholarship of 1,000 euros. Her short story will be released in Solaris 221 in winter 2022.

The award jury was composed of Iseult Bacon-Marcaurelle, Communications and Promotion Assistant at Alire Editions; Francine Pelletier, writer; Pascal Raud, writer, translator and literary director of Solaris; and Elisabeth Vonarburg, writer and translator.