Award ceremony for the 2026 edition of the Multilingual Short Story Competition

For the sixth edition of the competition, the theme of "Networked Languages" was given pride of place. From social networks to networks of resistance, from AI and its neural networks to networks of influence or transport... This broad theme invites us to think about the links that are woven between languages, about what they share, knot and untie, about everything that enables us not to think of them as isolated, lonely, but as alive with all the connections that bind and link them.

Visuel graphique avec des formes abstraites évoquant une carte mère d'ordinateur et un plan de métro — Concours Inalco de la nouvelle plurilingue - Langues en réseaux © Simon Lhéritier‎

On thursday 16 April 2026
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Inalco - Pôle des langues et civilisations (65 rue des Grands Moulins, 75013 Paris) - Auditorium and online
Free entry
Hybrid

See the competition announcement More information on the competition and previous awards

Organizer(s)

SEAC

Type

Representation

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The awards ceremony will take place in the presence of writer Gaël Octavia, godmother of the 2026 edition of the Competition, and Erika Fülöp, godmother of the digital prize.

This evening will honor the winners: excerpts from their short stories will be read by actress Pauline Darcel. The readings will be accompanied by a round-table discussion moderated by Marielle Anselmo (Inalco). She will bring the young authors together with the publishing sponsors and members of the jury. Students from Ecole Estienne (partner of the competition for the third year running) will also be honored for their publishing work.

Finally, the evening will close with the launch of the 2027 edition. To familiarize themselves with it, the public will be invited to take part in an interactive multilingual writing workshop led by Florian Targa (REVE service - Inalco).

About Gaël Octavia

Gaël Octavia was born in 1977 in Fort-de-France. A jack-of-all-trades, she writes novels, theater, short stories, poetry, screenplays, paints and directs short films. Her texts are marked by the Martinique society in which she grew up, and tackle universal themes such as the family, identity, the female condition, power, migrants... They have been translated into English, Italian, Romanian, Czech.

Her plays have been read and performed in Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Europe, the USA, Africa, Reunion... His first novel, La fin de Mame Baby (Gallimard), won the Prix Wepler, special mention, in 2017. Her collection L'étrangeté de Mathilde T. (Gallimard) was awarded the Goncourt de la nouvelle 2025.

The Multilingual Short Story Competition is a project supported by Inalco's Student Life and Student Success Department (REVE), with the collaboration of Aix-Marseille University's InCIAM and the partnership of École Estienne.