Inalco competition prize for multilingual short stories
How can we convey this dialogue of languages - which is also the dialogue of everyday life in our globalized world - in a literary text? It's this tension between French and other languages, those that are antipodes to it (such as the Oriental, African and Oceanic languages taught at Inalco) as well as those closest to it, but also between so-called "standard" or "reference" French and its social and geographical varieties (verlan, joual, Creole languages, nouchi, Marseillais, etc.) that we propose you explore in the Inalco Plurilingual Short Story Competition. This competition imposes the following linguistic constraint: use at least one other language or variety of French in addition to so-called "standard" French.
Because of its openness to the world (over a hundred languages are taught here, including many so-called "rare" and minority languages), no venue lends itself better than Inalco to hosting such a competition. The fact that the competition is part of the OIF's Langues en dialogue program, which promotes a multilingual Francophonie, reinforces this linguistic openness to French-speaking areas, where French comes in a wide variety of forms that are all too often overlooked. So it's also this internal plurilingualism of languages, languages whose homogeneity is only artificial, and this rustling of language in the French-speaking and digital space that this competition wants to promote through your writings, particularly for French, whose singularity masks its diversity.
Isabelle Cros, Jury President
Jury composition
The jury, made up of outside personalities, teaching-research and administrative staff, as well as Inalco students, is formed by the Concours de la nouvelle plurilingue organizing committee. A pre-jury selects the best texts for the competition in two rounds; the Grand Jury, made up among others of the writer sponsors and personalities from the world of books or the media, representatives of Inalco and the publisher of Éditions Tangentielles, chooses the three winners of the prize list and possibly the special mention (coup de coeur du Grand Jury).
The following prizes are awarded
- 1st prize: €500
- 2nd prize: €200
- 3rd prize: €100
- "Digital writing" prize: €400 + promotion and dissemination of the work online and in the Editions Tangentielles book, as well as at various events linked to the competition
A coup de coeur du Grand jury is possible, with a purely honorary dimension, and no financial reward.
The best short stories (between 3 and 12 short stories, depending on the Grand Jury's choice) will also be published by Editions Tangentielles with editorial support, and their authors will be invited to take part in a writing workshop led by one of the competition's sponsors or another writing specialist.
Discover the winners of the 2024 "Animal Languages" competition
Edition 2024: Animal languages
Edition 2024: Animal languages
- 1st prize: Ariel and Matok, Sandrine MERLIN
- 2nd prize: Elza Formicae, Samuel RUBEO
- 3rd prize: These feathered words, Hélène ROUX
- InCIAM "digital writing" special prize: Voix nomades, empreintes animales, Adnan BOUDJELAL
Special Jury Mention: Les lettres isolés, Mohamed TOUENTI
Coup de cœur InCIAM prize: The world of non-human communicators, Brando RUSSO
Publication of the short stories of the first nine winners in the collective work Langues animales (publication in 2025):
- Ariel and Matok, Sandrine MERLIN
- 52 Hzt, Beatrice RIVERON
- D'autres voix que la tienne, Diane COUTELIER
- Mathilde, Tatiana BESSER
- Parole sauvage, Clémence DELHAYE
Edition 2022 : Languages in the making
Edition 2022 : Languages in the making
- 1st prize: Tout ce qui vit sauf nous, Simon LHERITIER
- 2nd prize: Les vrilles de sa vigne, Jeanne MESLIN
- 3rd prize: Petit bout, Amélie SCHÜNING
- Special InCIAM "digital writing" prize: Les évaporés, Ed Snowcrash
Publication of the short stories of the first three winners in the collective work Langues en germe.
Edition 2021 : Languages in danger
Edition 2021 : Languages in danger
- 1st prize: Vermoulures vert mots rus et murmures, Erwan THOMAZO
- 2nd prize: Maghyal à la campagne, Paul CHOUQUET
- 3rd prize: Le murmure, Lucie EVRARD
- Special PERL "digital work" prize: Silence, Ed Snowcrash
Special mention from the competition sponsors (Carole Martinez and Jean-Luc Raharimanana): Kraké, Alexandre TECHER
Publication of the short stories of the first twelve winners in the collective work Langues en danger :
- Vermoulures vert mots rus et murmures, Erwan THOMAZO
- Maghyal à la campagne, Paul CHOUQUET
- Le murmure, Lucie EVRARD
- Kraké, Alexandre TECHER
- The Last Languages Fight, Marianne FAVRE
- L'éteneuc, Nicolas PAYEN
- MK5, Soline MORTEROL
- Va'ama, Anton GOUBIER
- Aminti, Laurene BARBIER
- Lexi(e)que universel, Orianne LAZERAT
- Nè mode pa - Ne disparais pas, Elena BECHET
Edition 2020 : Languages in dialogue
Edition 2020 : Languages in dialogue
- 1st prize: Kyrie Eleison, Valérie ROUMELIOTIS-OTTAVY
- 2nd prize: L'accent, Jean-Yves PELISSON
- 3rd prize: Jnawhi, Samia HANACHI
Special mention from the competition sponsors (Yasmine Khlat and Jean-Simon DesRochers): A Babil, Nicolas PAYEN
Publication of the short stories of the first twelve winners in the collective work Langues en dialogue(s) :
- Kyrie Eleison, Valérie ROUMELIOTIS-OTTAVY
- L'accent, Jean-Yves PELISSON
- Jnawhi, Samia HANACHI
- A Babil, Nicolas PAYEN
- Babel, Eveline SU
- Bifurcation, Celia HOSSTETTER
- Every day is a life, Alondra
- Fleurs de nostalgie, Paolo FALCONE
- La Belle province, Mario GHEZA
- La sondité, Renaud DESCAMPS
- Les mots déraillés, Werner GABOREAU
- Oridjinns, Najat SGHYAR