Sylvain Tesson, Maud Fontenoy, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, Kamel Daoud... here is the program of the Nice Book Festival, which will take place from May 30 to June 1
"Writing is about setting sail in the same direction as the waves, losing sight of the shores and going where you know nothing," said the writer Alain Vircondelet.
"Set sail," the theme of the next edition of the Nice Book Festival, held from May 30 to June 1, three words that smell of salt and fresh ink.
Alongside Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds, writer, journalist, director and honorary president of the festival this year, a whole crew of authors passionate about nature, the sea, the stars and even travel will be waiting for you at the Albert I garden to set sail.
You can meet the tireless Sylvain Tesson, with his latest work, Les Piliers de la mer , in which he retraces twenty years of climbing stacks , these rocky pillars erected in the sea off the cliffs.
But also Arnaud de La Grange and his book La Promesse du large , literary prize of the writers of the navy, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot with Mer intérieure , the producer Virginia Tangvald and her first novel Les Enfants du large, the navigator Maud Fontenoy and her work L'Océan, source de vie or even Andreï Makine and his book Prisonnier du rêve écarlate , winner of the Nice Baie des Anges prize 2025.
Other writers will also be present, such as the festival's artistic director, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, as well as Kamel Daoud, winner of the 2024 Prix Goncourt for Houris and currently the subject of two international arrest warrants issued by Algeria. A situation reminiscent of that of Boualem Sansal, honorary president of the last edition of the festival , who is currently imprisoned.
David Foenkinos, Karine Tuil, Marie Drucker, René Frégni, Alice Zeniter, Didier Van Cauwelaert, Gilles Kepel, Valentin Musso, Anne Goscinny and Laurence Tardieu will also be present.
Signings, meetings and screeningsTo punctuate these three days of the festival, book signings, meetings, activities and readings will be organized. For the opening of the festival, on Friday May 30 at 4 p.m., Allain Bougrain-Dubourg will participate in a major interview, led by the artistic director of the festival and editorialist Franz-Olivier Giesbert, around his latest book Dictionnaire amoureux de la vie sauvage .
Maud Fontenoy will also present an episode of her documentary series, entitled Bleu, un océan de solutions, at the Mégarama cinema on Sunday, June 1st , at 10:45 a.m. The screening, free and open to all, subject to availability, will be followed by an interview and a book signing.
Comics and youth representedComic book fans can rest assured, they have not been forgotten. Author Domas will be present with Les Animaux marins en bande dessinée , which will have its exhibition on the festival's comic book stand, while cartoonist Catel Muller and author José-Louis Bocquet will present Anita Conti , a portrait of the first French female oceanographer.
A music conference based on this work is being held on Saturday, May 31 at the Artistique. In total, 14 paintings by Catel Muller, retracing Anita Conti's life in chronological order, and 8 intermezzos, images filmed by the oceanographer herself in 1953 aboard the trawler Bois-Rosé, will be presented.
You can also find Florence Cestac and Grandma's Demons or Albert Algoud and The Real Truth about Tintin!.
Children's author and festival regular Susie Morgenstern – who has also just published her first novel for adults, Sadie à Brides-les-Bain – will be presenting Pas la salopette bleue! and Monstre cherche monstresse. Young readers will be able to meet Pascal Brissy, with Augustin et le concours de Pâques , Malou Ravella and Florence Schumpp, who will be presenting Eurêka, l'intrépide petit chamois, or Florence Hinckel, with the first volume of Chun, le panda baby-sitter , winner of the Nice 2025 student prize.
>> Nice Book Festival, from May 30 to June 1. Free admission.
The Nice Book Festival is an opportunity to meet your favorite authors, but it's also an opportunity for these writers to be recognized. Once again this year, the festival showcases emerging and established talent through several awards, highlighting contemporary creations while encouraging new writers.
The Nice Baie des Anges Prize, the most well-known, rewards a French novel published in the twelve months preceding the festival. This year, eight novels were in contention for the award, awarded by a jury of writers and readers.
Among them, Maylis de Kerangal from Toulon and her book Jour de ressac and the French-Canadian who fell in love with Nice Benoit d'Halluin with Un cri dans l'océan . Finally, the jury, chaired by Franz-Olivier Giesbert, decided and it is the Russian writer naturalized French Andreï Makine who wins the prize, with his book Prisonnier d'un rêve écarlate . He will receive his prize during the festival's opening ceremony on Friday, May 30.
Since 2022, young students in Nice have had the opportunity to award prizes. This year, 280 students aged 9 to 11 read four books selected by independent bookstores in the city of Nice and chose Florence Hinckel's book, Chun, the Panda Babysitter, 33 rue des Tilleuls.
You don't have to be a professional author to receive an award.Young and old writers also have the opportunity to win a prize, thanks to the youth short story competition and the senior short story or story competition. For the youth competition, 200 students from primary to high school took part in the writing game on the theme "The Vanishing Pebbles."
The jury, chaired by Didier Van Cauwelaert, selected around fifteen texts. The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 31, starting at 10 a.m. at the Authors' Forum.
New from last year, and continuing for this new edition, the short story or senior story competition is proposed by Olympia Alberti, president of the jury. The chosen theme, "The Mediterranean in Sharing," based on the book Provence published in 1959 by Jean Giono, fits naturally into the context of the festival and the third United Nations Conference on the Ocean , organized from June 9 to 13 in Nice.
The awards ceremony will also take place on Saturday, May 31 at the Authors' Forum, starting at 11 a.m.
Var-Matin
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