The Nice Book Festival 2026, from May 29 to 31, will focus on the theme of transmission with Antoine Compagnon as the honorary president. This professor, academician, and writer will engage the public with literature through meetings, debates, and events.
Literature as heritage, as a dialogue between generations, as a bridge built between knowledge and sensitivities. This is what the Nice Book Festival proposes for its 30th edition, scheduled from May 29 to 31, 2026. Antoine Compagnon, member of the French Academy and a major figure in the intellectual world, will be the honorary president. His career, marked by teaching and a passion for literature, embodies the chosen theme: transmission.
Each year, the city of Nice transforms its center into a meeting place for authors and readers. Conferences, debates, readings, signings, shows, and activities organize these three days open to all. The 2026 edition promises to be particularly rich, with more than 200 writers expected, including Boris Cyrulnik, Delphine de Vigan, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Chantal Thomas, and Virginie Grimaldi.
Antoine Compagnon, a life dedicated to literature and its sharing
Antoine Compagnon has never separated the study of texts from their dissemination. Engineer of Bridges and Roads, Doctor of French Literature, he taught at the most prestigious institutions: École Polytechnique, Columbia University, Collège de France. His courses, essays, and radio chronicles have marked generations of students and readers.
Specialist of Proust, literary critic, writer, he has published over thirty works. Among them, Un été avec Montaigne, Un été avec Baudelaire, or more recently 1966, année mirifique and Un Hiver avec Matisse. His books, often derived from his teachings, testify to a constant desire: to make literature accessible, to show its utility, its relevance.
In La littérature pour quoi faire?, published by Fayard, Antoine Compagnon asserts: “Literature must be read and studied because it provides a means to preserve and transmit the experiences of others.” This phrase encapsulates the spirit of the Nice festival. Transmission is not an abstract theme, but a living practice, a continuous exchange between those who write and those who read.
A plethora of authors for this 30th edition
The Nice Book Festival, artistically directed by Franz-Olivier Giesbert, hosts authors from all backgrounds each year. Novelists, essayists, poets, historians, polemicists, or political figures meet for encounters, signings, readings, and debates.
The 2026 edition will officially open on Friday, May 29 2026 in the presence of Éric Ciotti, mayor of Nice and president of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis. Among the already announced guests are names as varied as Donato Carrisi, François Schuiten, or Chantal Thomas, from the French Academy.
Last year, the festival chose the theme “Setting Sail,” with Allain Bougrain-Dubourg as the honorary president. Exploration and escape were celebrated. In 2026, transmission invites another journey: that of memory, knowledge, and the passion for words.
The Nice Book Festival aims to be a popular event, where everyone can find their place. The proposed activities are aimed at all ages, with a particular focus on young audiences. Schools, libraries, and local associations are involved in organizing to make these three days a collective celebration.
Antoine Compagnon, through his career and commitments, reminds us that literature does not belong solely to specialists. It is transmitted, shared, and discussed. By choosing this theme, the Nice Festival once again asserts its ambition: to make reading a living act, a bond between individuals, a way to build the future together.
It remains to be seen how visitors will embrace this invitation. One thing is certain: from May 29 to 31, Nice will be the capital of literary transmission.
