Do you Know the Bédélys Youth Québec Award Jury?
The Bédélys Youth Québec Award rewards the best comic book for an audience aged 14 and under by a Québec artist published in Québec. It has a $ 1,000 grant, a copy of Antidote+ Personal 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:
- Publication by a Quebec publishing house for an audience aged 14 and less
- Artists residing in Quebec, if there are several artists, at least one must be Quebecois
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.
- David Choquette, librarian and jury president
- Marie-Josée Gonthier, mediator
- Sébastien Richard, reader
- François Forest, librarian
- Olivier Lirette Teoli, librarian
- Emilie Chastel, librarian
- Annie Bacon, author
- Marie-Ève Benoit, librarian
While we await the unveiling of the finalists for the 25th annual Bédélys Awards, we’d like to introduce you to the jury for the Prix Bédélys Jeunesse Québec and David Choquette, its President.
Here Maxime talks about invoking the Gods of Comics and the powerful impact of reading on young audiences.
MCAF: How does the jury work?
David: First, we all gather around a table. Then, make a sacrifice (usually a block of tofu that we cut into cubes) to evoke the Gods of the Comic Arts.
Then we discuss the comics, talk about which ones we like, and why they deserve to be consecrated. Of course, we behave quite civilly, only occasionally throwing fish in each other’s faces (malicious tongues will say the fish aren’t fresh. Lies! All lies!). When we’re done, we push back our chairs and shut off the lights.
Seriously, when two members of the jury don’t have the same opinion of a work, we resolve it with an arm-wrestling match… mental arm-wrestling, of course.
MCAF: Why do you think your jury category is important in the comics landscape?
David: Because it’s aimed at young people, a fertile ground for developing and encouraging the imagination. If we don’t get young people used to reading Quebecois comics, who will read the works of tomorrow?
MCAF: If you had to convince someone to get involved in the jury, what would you say?
David: That it’s their chance to be part of Quebec’s great comics community and make a difference. Also, there’s nothing more enjoyable for a comics fan than to be able to discuss their reading with other enthusiasts… and… if I had just 2 seconds to convince someone, I’d just say: “Do you have what it takes? Let’s FIND OUT!”
The call for applications to join the jury for the 26th annual Bédélys Awards is now open.
