Catherine Meurisse, Anouk Ricard and Alison Bechdel are the three finalists for this yr’s Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême, the lifetime achievement award for cartoonists introduced yearly on the Pageant de la Bande Desinée d’Angoulême (FIBD) which kicks off this Wednesday.
It’s the primary time all three finalists have been girls, and would imply a lady will win for 2 years in a row for the primary time: 2024’s winner was Posy Simmonds.
In addition to being one of many highest honors a cartoonist can obtain, the winner additionally serves as honorary marshal of the subsequent yr’s occasion.
The three finalists symbolize a large swath of cartooning.
Catherine Meurisse has been a finalist a number of occasions earlier than and is finest identified for her work for the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. She can also be a member of France’s Academy of Superb Arts, one of many few cartoonists to realize this honor.
Anouk Ricard is finest identified within the US for her Anna and Froga collection, revealed in N. America by D&Q. Her work regularly seems in Spirou and he or she was named one of many 25 Funniest Girls in France by GQ France.
Alison Bechdel, who was beforehand nominated in 2023, is a famend American cartoonist, finest identified for Enjoyable Residence, her groundbreaking and unforgettable memoir which was tailored right into a Tony Award successful musical. She has a brand new guide popping out this yr: Spent, a humorous roman a clef a couple of cartoonist named Alison Bechdel, working a pygmy goat sanctuary in Vermont and coping with fame.
That is the fourth yr in a row that Meurisse has been nominated, so it’s protected to say she’s the favourite.
Whereas all three cartoonists are nicely certified for this honor on the deserves of their work, it’s additionally fairly a change from just a few years in the past, when one of many administrators of the competition declared that the 2016 lengthy record of nominees was all male as a result of girls simply hadn’t made their mark but. This led to name for a boycott and plenty of, many adjustments on the occasion which now appears to have a extra egalitarian method to honors.
The winner of this yr’s Grand Prix can be introduced Wednesday.
