Congratulations are in order for Tade Thompson and Adrian Tchaikovsky, who have been nominated for the 2020 Prix Utopiales, an annual prize that awards one speculative fiction novel or short story collection published or translated into French! Thompson was nominated for his 2016 novel Rosewater, while Tchaikovsky was nominated for his 2017 novel Dogs of War, both of which received French translations in 2019.
The two authors are the only nominees with works in translation this year. The other three are:
- Pierre Bordage, for Inkarmations
- Alain Damasio, for Les Furtifs
- Olivier Paquet, for Les machines fantôme
The winner of the prize will receive 2,000 euros, and will selected by a jury of readers during the 2020 Utopiales, an international sci-fi festival that takes place annually in Nantes, France. This year just happens to be the festival’s 20th anniversary, and it will take place between October 29 and November 2.
The Prix Utopiales isn’t the only prize awarded during the festival. The other literary prizes include the Prix Utopiales Jeunesse, for YA novels and short story collections, and the Prix Utopiales BD, for comic books, and there are awards, competitions, and contests for film-makers, screenwriters, game designers, and more.
During last year’s festival, Thompson won the Prix Julia Verlanger for The Murders of Molly Southbourne, translated into French in 2019. Rosewater was also on the short-list for the prize. Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky was nominated for the Prix Utopiales for Children of Time, translated into French in 2018.
