Emmanuelle Pierrot's debut novel, defended by David Thibodeau, wins Combat national des livres
La version qui n'intéresse personne by Emmanuelle Pierrot, defended by frequent Radio-Canada collaborator and producer David Thibodeau, has won the Combat national des livres 2024 after four days of debates on ICI Radio-Canada Première.
Published in Sept. 2023, La version qui n'intéresse personne is a novel that tells the story of Sasha, a young Quebec punk who goes to live with her best friend Tom in Dawson City, Yukon. Suddenly, the small community of misfits that her friend joined turns on Sasha and she becomes a black sheep among them.
Thibodeau said about the novel that it's: "a book that stays with you for a long time. To exist sometimes, you need harsh words; to tell these stories, it sometimes takes stories that hurt."
La version qui n'intéresse personne is not yet available in English, but the novel is being adapted into a movie.
Pierrot is a writer and poet from Montreal who spent the better part of her 20s travelling across Canada and North America. La version qui n'intéresse personne is her debut novel.
The debates took place from May 27-30, 2024. The show was moderated by Marie-Louise Arsenault, host of Radio-Canada's Tout peut arriver.
The final two contenders were La version qui n'intéresse personne and Les Foley by Annie-Claude Thériault, which was defended by actress Diane Losier from New Brunswick. The final books were decided by an online public vote and the winner was named by a jury comprised of five members of the audience from across the country that were brought in virtually for the final show. All five jurors voted unanimously for La version qui n'intéresse personne to win.
Each of the Combat national des livres contenders represented different regions of Canada:
- Jocelyn Sioui, representing the First Nations, Inuit and Métis nations, defended the French translation of Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen titled Le baiser de la Reine blanche, translated by Robert Dickson
- Alison Vicrobeck, representing Ontario, defended Le prince africain, le traducteur et le nazi by Didier Leclair
- Diane Losier, representing the Atlantic region, championed Les Foley by Annie-Claude Thériault
- David Thibodeau, representing Western Canada, defended La version qui n'intéresse personne by Emmanuelle Pierrot
- Chantal Lamarre, representing Quebec, championed Mélasse de fantaisie by Francis Ouellette
Only Tomson Highway's Kiss of the Fur Queen is available to read in English. The book was also featured on CBC Books's great Canadian reading list of 150 books to read for Canada's 150th anniversary.
The short story collection Rivières-aux-Cartouches by Sébastien Bérubé won the 2023 edition of the book debate. The book was defended by actor, poet, playwright and singer Gabriel Robichaud.
