In the framework of the Lecture pour tous program, young writers from Nice have ventured into short story writing. Since its inception in 2008, more than 65,000 students have benefited from the program. The project invites participants to share their creative spirit. To best develop imagination around the azure city, the jury set the theme as “Nice: The Ghost of the Tramway.”
From elementary to high school, around a hundred students participated in the New Youth Competition. The ceremony took place this Wednesday at the Mediterranean University Center. The event aims to promote reading and writing while combating illiteracy. This year, due to the health situation, the prize-giving did not take place at the book festival, which was canceled. However, the organizers were keen to maintain the New Youth Competition. Thus, the 2020 edition concludes in an unprecedented setting.
Jean-Luc Gagliolo, delegate for education, wanted to compliment the participants by emphasizing that it takes audacity to write. For his part, Christian Estrosi shares a few words in the foreword of a book offered to the spectators:
“Having access to culture that opens horizons is to broaden the fields of possibilities. The book, which touches on the singular, on the individual, is one of the means to achieve this.”
Participants had the privilege of sharing their writing with many artists, writers, and actors. Furthermore, winners exchanged a few words with the 1994 Goncourt prize winner, Didier van Cauwelaert. The latter addressed the schoolchildren to thank them:
“A very moving, very soothing discovery, which gives hope for the future. You are that future, it’s you children. With your gaze and your pen, you invent the world.”
Thanks to this contest, some were able to discover a newfound interest in writing. It was under applause that the students went up to the stage to receive their reward, as well as a medal engraved with their name. Others revealed it was not their first attempt, and with stars in their eyes, they turned towards their parents. The awarded prizes encouraged possible future talents of Nice literature. In these harsh times, it is important for them to gather around reading. For the jury members, the word to remember from this evening is: sharing. Next year’s theme will be “The Mysterious Undergrounds of the Paillon,” a subject that will, of course, relate to the city of Nice.
