“Here is Allauch!”
This first sentence present in all the news sets the scene.
That of the mountains of Provence and the novels and films of Marcel Pagnol.
In this city overlooking Marseille, the first edition of the Marcel Pagnol short story competition rewarded its winners on Saturday 15 January.
And what competition!
The organization hoped for a hundred participants;
254 apprentice novelists took up their pens to bring the hills of
Childhood Memories
back to life .
Among these writings received from France and abroad, the jury composed among others of Nicolas Pagnol, grandson of the writer, and the author Daniel Picouly, selected five finalists.
Read alsoA Marcel Pagnol museum on the hills of Allauch in 2024
The first prize in the Adults category was awarded to the retired Bernadette Pepineau for her short story
Le Revenant d'Allauch
.
A 17-year-old student, Emma Derrien received the Coup de Coeur Jeunes mention for her short story
Twilight or the day I met a girl in search of the demon
.
A tribute to the child of the country
“Here is Allauch! said the doctor, we may be saved. Walk in good order and smile. They are waiting for us. Don't talk to them. It's useless. No one would believe you. Let me tell them. Me, I can.
It was from this incipit prepared by Daniel Picouly, winner of the Renaudot Prize in 1999, that the participants embarked on writing their short story.
Three lines that pose the city of Allauch as the final destination of a long journey.
A student at the Monte-Cristo high school in Allauch, Emma Derrien was able to repaint the environment that surrounds her through a story hailed for
“its quality and its poetry”.
While she has never set foot in the town, Bernadette Pepineau describes the return to the country of a group of men who left to seek better fortune.
Launched in October by the city of Allauch and the Association of Friends of the Marcel-Pagnol Museum, this competition is part of a process of homage to the child of the country.
A new museum dedicated to the author is due to open in 2024.
The award-winning short stories can be found on the competition website.