Do you Know the Bédélys Québec Award Jury?
Since 1999, the Bédélys Québec Award rewards the best comic book by a Québec artist published in Québec. It has a $ 1,000 grant, a copy of Antidote+ Personal and a unique trophy. The prize consists of a $1,000 grant, a copy of Antidote+ Personnel, and a unique trophy.
Selection Criteria
For this category, the jury determines which comics are part of the selection. Here are the criteria used to determine the accepted works:
- Published by a Quebec publishing house for an audience aged 14 and over.
- Quebec-resident creator; if there is more than one creator listed on the book, at least one must be from Quebec.
Jury
Composed of readers who work in the book industry, this jury includes, among others, librarians and booksellers, but also publishers and all other book professionals.
- Maxime Beaulieu, librarian and jury president
- Hélène Brosseau, bookseller
- Michel Chénier, reader
- Julien Clément, reader
- Stéphanie Lamothe, librarian
- Hélène Lépinay-Thomas, teacher
- Boris Nonveillier, librarian
- Charlotte Delwaide, editor
While we’re waiting for the finalists for the 25th annual Bédélys Awards to be announced, we’d like to introduce you to the jury for the Prix Bédélys Québec and its President, Maxime Beaulieu.
In this short interview, Maxime talks about the jury members’ unique responsibility to Quebec comics.
MCAF: Can you tell us a little about the jury? How many books does the jury read in an average year? What do the Bédélys Awards mean to you?
Maxime: The members of the Bédélys Québec jury are very aware of their particular responsibility. We are, after all, reading “our” comics, the works imagined and created by our local artists and writers and published and distributed by our local publishing houses. We take this responsibility very seriously, and so we read almost all of the eligible productions (professionally published books aimed at adults). Depending on the year, this can represent between 30 and 45 titles. We are aware that our selection is less extensive than that read by our colleagues on the Bédélys International jury, for example. So it’s incumbent on us to make the effort to read everything, out of respect for our local creators. So, when we select the finalists and the winning comic, we can honestly say that we’ve looked at all the local publications and that we’re putting forward the very best titles and artists.
MCAF: Why do you think your jury category is important in the comics landscape?
Maxime: Participating in this jury means becoming part of the local creative ecosystem. It means seeing many local creators evolve year after year. It’s an extraordinary pleasure to see a creator “climb” the reading lists, from promising young talent to solid finalist. One of the rewards of working on a local publication is the proximity with the creators. You get to rub shoulders with them, have conversations about their comics and hear them talk about their art. So it’s also a great responsibility.
MCAF: If you had to convince someone to get involved in the jury, what would you say?
Maxime: Firstly, we do an important job of discovering important authors in our community and promoting local creation. We also have a great atmosphere on the jury, with a great deal of respect and communication among the members. And finally, we have the chance to read the best comics in the world, made right here, which can touch us and address local issues.
The call for applications to join the jury for the 26th annual Bédélys Awards is now open.
