Pyrénées-Atlantiques: Erwan Desplanques is the winner of the Marguerite de Navarre prize from the Béarn Academy

“He paints a bittersweet portrait of our contemporaries, a very topical comedy of manners, with veiled criticism and subtly expressed derision,” explains President Patrick Voisin. “It’s a collection that can be described as complex. It seemed to us that he was truly the most profound writer.” Marc Bélit adds: “And at the same time, someone firmly rooted in the short story, a particular genre that also hinges on its ending. Here, it’s done with great finesse: you can already sense the watchmaker’s craftsmanship.”

Erwan Desplanques, 45, a graduate of the École supérieure de journalisme (ESJ) in Lille, worked for fifteen years at the editorial office of "Télérama". In 2013, he published his first novel, "Si j'y suis", followed in 2016 by a collection of short stories, "Une Chance unique", selected for the Goncourt prize, "which is about to be made into a film", explains Patrick Voisin.

Three other prizes

Furthermore, the Béarn academy has decided to award the prize for best short story to Belgian author Ralph Vendôme for "Dans la haie" (In the Hedge), from the collection "Dans quel monde on vit" (What World Do We Live In), published by Éditions MEO. The jury's special prize goes to Éric Mukendi for the collection "Le Blues du dimanche soir" (Sunday Night Blues), in the Continents noirs (Black Continents) series published by Gallimard. Finally, the short story "L'Ange" (The Angel), from the collection "Trains d'union" (Trains of Union) by Magali Leridan, will receive the high school students' prize, which will be presented on November 26 at 3 p.m. at the Parliament of Navarre.