The Salon du livre de Toronto is an annual book fair in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held to celebrate and publicize French language literature.[1] Launched in 1993 as the first French language book fair in Canada outside Quebec,[1] the event features a program of author readings, panel discussions and publisher exhibitions over the course of several days in the fall of each year.[2] It concentrates primarily on Franco-Ontarian authors, although publishers and writers from Quebec and France also participate.[2]
Due to the Franco-Ontarian community's relatively limited access to French language media and bookstores, it serves as an essential venue for promotion and networking between the publishing industry and French language school boards, post-secondary institutions, libraries and other community organizations in the province.[3]
The event was founded by writer and educator Christine Dumitriu Van Saanen, who served as its director general until 2006.
Since its inception, the event has presented an annual award to a work judged as the year's best work of French literature by a writer from Ontario.[4] Initially named the Grand Prix du Salon du livre de Toronto, it was renamed the Prix Christine-Dumitriu-Van-Saanen in 1999 to honour the event's founder. The award was renamed the Prix Alain-Thomas in 2020, following the death of influential Franco-Ontarian academic Alain Thomas.[5]
In 2017, the Salon du livre introduced the Prix Québec-Ontario, an award administered jointly with the Salon du livre de Rimouski in Quebec and presented to two writers, one from each province, who have published their first book. The winners in 2017 were Mishka Lavigne (Ontario) for Cinéma, and Christophe Bernard (Quebec) for La bête creuse.[6] The award has not, however, been presented again in the years since 2017.
| Year | Author | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Daniel Poliquin | [7] | |
| 1994 | Gabrielle Poulin | Le livre de déraison | |
| 1995 | Maurice Henrie | Le balcon dans le ciel | [8] |
| 1996 | Marguerite Andersen | La Soupe | |
| Robert Fortin | Peut-il rêver celui qui s’endort dans la gueule des chiens | ||
| 1997 | Andrée Christensen | Sacra Privata | |
| 1998 | René Dionne | Histoire de la littérature franco-ontarienne, des origines à nos jours | |
| Hédi Bouraoui |
| Year | Author | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Pierre Raphaël Pelletier | Il faut crier l'injure | |
| 2000 | Hédi Bouraoui | Ainsi parle la Tour CN | |
| 2001 | Gaétan Gervais | Les jumelles Dionne et l'Ontario français | |
| 2002 | Esther Beauchemin | Maïta | |
| Nicole V. Champeau | Ô Saint-Laurent - Le fleuve à son commencement | ||
| Jean-Louis Grosmaire | Paris-New York | ||
| Michèle Matteau | Cognac et porto | ||
| Melchior Mbonimpa | Le totem des Baranda | ||
| 2003 | Aristote Kavungu | Un Train pour l'Est | |
| 2004 | Franco Catanzariti | Sahel | [9] |
| Andrée Lacelle | La lumière et l'heure | ||
| Melchior Mbonimpa | Le dernier roi faiseur de pluie | ||
| 2005 | Michèle Matteau | Un doigt de brandy dans un verre de lait chaud | [10] |
| 2006 | Melchior Mbonimpa | Les morts ne sont pas les morts | |
| 2007 | Andrée Christensen | Depuis toujours j'entendais la mer | [11] |
| Maurice Henrie | Le chuchotement des étoiles | [12] | |
| Hélène Koscielniak | Marraine | ||
| 2008 | Antonio D'Alfonso | L'Aimé | |
| Paul-François Sylvestre | Toronto s'écrit : la Ville Reine dans notre littérature | ||
| Michèle Matteau | Passerelles | ||
| 2009 | Claude Tatilon | La Soupe au pistou | |
| Jean Mohsen Fahmy | Frères ennemis | ||
| Claire Rochon | Fragments de Sifnos | ||
| 2010 | Daniel Soha | L'Orchidiable | [13] |
| Daniel Castillo Durante | Ce feu si lent de l'exil | ||
| Françoise Lepage | Soudain l'étrangeté | ||
| 2011 | Louis L'Allier | Les Danseurs de Kamilari | [14] |
| Claude Desmarais | Trois saisons | ||
| Joëlle Roy | Xman est back en Huronie | ||
| 2012 | Gilles Dubois | L'Enfant qui ne pleurait jamais | [15] |
| Pierre Léon | Le Mariage politiquement correct du Petit Chaperon Rouge | ||
| Monia Mazigh | Miroir et mirages | ||
| 2013 | Marie-Josée Martin | Un jour, ils entendront mes silences | |
| Céline Forcier | La critique | ||
| Michel Thérien | La fluidité des heures | ||
| 2014 | Andrée Christensen | Racines de neige | [16] |
| Jean Mohsen Fahmy | L’ultime voyage | [17] | |
| Daniel Marchildon | Le sortilège de Louisbourg | ||
| 2015 | Michel Dallaire | Violoncelle pour une lune d’automne | [18] |
| Hélène Koscielniak | Frédéric | ||
| Blaise Ndala | J'irai danser sur la tombe de Senghor | ||
| 2016 | Didier Leclair | Pour l'amour de Dimitri | |
| Marie Gingras | La poulette grise | [19] | |
| Michèle Laframboise | L'Écologie d'Odi | ||
| 2017 | Claude Guilmain | AmericanDream.ca | |
| Gabriel Osson | Hubert, le restavèk | [20] | |
| Paul-François Sylvestre | Ma jumelle m'a quitté dans la dignité | ||
| 2018 | Daniel Soha | Chroniques tziganes : La légende de Joe Magarac | [21] |
| Michelle Deshaies | XieXie | ||
| Michel Thérien | Des vallées nous traversent | ||
| 2019 | Jean Mohsen Fahmy | La Sultane dévoilée | [22] |
| Andrée Christensen | L'Isle aux abeilles noires | ||
| David Ménard | Poupée de rouille | ||
| 2020 | Award not presented |
| Year | Author | Title | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Gabriel Osson | Le jour se lèvera | [23] |
| Nicole V. Champeau | Niagara…la voie qui y mène | ||
| Éric Mathieu | Capitaine Boudu et les enfants de la Cédille | ||
| 2022 | Janine Messadié | Lettre à Tahar Ben Jelloun | [24] |
| Soufiane Chakkouche | Zahra | [25] | |
| Michèle Laframboise | Le secret de Paloma | ||
| 2023 | Hélène Koscielniak | Mégane et Mathis | [26] |
| Elsie Suréna | Amours jaunies/Miscellanées | ||
| Nancy Vickers | Capharnaum | ||
| 2024 | Jean Mohsen Fahmy | Par-delà les frontières | [27] |
| Roger Levac | L’odeur de l’oubli | ||
| Michèle Vinet | JAZ |