Anticipation is growing within the ranks of middle school students. To pass the time, many chat, others prefer to get comfortable in the large armchairs of the lounge that hosts them, while the rest make frequent trips to the bathroom. It is in this cheerful chaos that Christian Estrosi makes his entrance. He begins his speech by saluting “the passion” of the jury president. He continues by emphasizing “the talent and imagination” of the 160 budding short story writers. He concludes by congratulating the General Council which “made no mistake in organizing, three years ago, this competition.”
The short stories invite the reader to travel. From Italy to Russia, from Greece to Cuba, from England to Armenia, all converging towards a common destination: the Côte d’Azur. The inventiveness of the children is astonishing, their command of French is almost perfect in the best texts. This impressed Raoul Mille: “There are stories without unnecessary pathos, without heaviness.” He experiences this with passion, visiting the middle schools that request it with immense joy. “I hope that this experience will continue and grow.”
Then comes the time for the award ceremony. The winner, Émilie Lhomme, a 9th-grade student at Collège les Bréguières in Cagnes-sur-Mer, won a trip for two following the origins of writing in Egypt. Her story is about Medhi, a child from a Tunisian immigrant background, caught between two opposing identities. On one side, the French culture, with French people who do not accept him, and on the other, the Tunisian culture, which sees him only as a foreigner. Lost between these two civilizations, the boy, with the help of his friend Laure, will manage to draw from both cultures to forge his own identity. The story particularly captivated the jury president who “has no worries about the young girl’s future in literature.”
The winners:
– First prize: Emilie Lhomme “Medhi”
– Second prize: Céline Peronne “Pablo”
– Third prize: Yoann Rey-Ricord “The Heritage Pledge”
– Special jury prize: Benoît Jarrin “The Road Backwards”
– Group prize: Collège Fénelon in Grasse (102 young authors)
