Literary awards ceremony for the 1st edition in 2022.
Originally launched under the name of ‘Ouest Hurlant’ in 2022, the first edition of the festival was aimed at a mix of secondary schools, university students and the general public. This year, however, is bringing new changes for the festival in terms of its structure and target audiences. While L'Ouest Hurlant will continue to exist and organize meetings for the general public, its Rennes 2 organizers will be focusing specifically on students of schools and universities. As such, this part of the festival has been renamed ‘Sirennes’ and will be dedicated to the cultures of the imaginary: science fiction, fantasy and the fantastic.
In 2023, the Sirennes festival will focus on two themes in particular: uchrony (a genre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life) and utopia. Another new feature: Stéphanie Nicot, Collection Director at Éditions Scrineo and author of some twenty anthologies (Incontournables de la fantasy, Anthologie du monstre, Et si Napoléon..., Afrofuturisme, etc.), is joining the adventure, and with her arrival, a new type of content will be offered. Throughout the year, she will reflect on the initiatives to be promoted in connection with: Rennes 2's degree courses on gender, important works from feminists such as Ursula Le Guin, Joanna Russ and others, as well as groundbreaking writing from French-speaking authors like Charlotte Bousquet, Estelle Faye, Élisabeth Vonarburg, Joëlle Wintrebert, and more.
Stéphanie Nicot. DR
The festival program is currently being finalized and will include round-tables with authors and teacher-researchers, personalized meetings with the writers, book signings, workshops, exhibitions, screenings and theatrical performances. A writing contest and literary prizes are also organized in partnership with Babelio and Mediaparks.
In the meantime, while awaiting the festival kickoff on May 10, join us for two round-tables being organized with Jean-Philippe Jaworski, Stéphanie Nicot, Anne Besson, Literature Professor at the University of Artois, and Florian Mazel, Medieval Historian at Rennes 2: March 9th, at the Champs Libres at 2:30pm (for schoolchildren and students) and in the evening at the Ouest France space.
