"Un désir d'Amérique" Finalist for Prix du livre d’Ottawa
Philippe Duhamel
The most recent book by Jean-Daniel Lafond, Un désir d’Amérique, fragments nomades, was shortlisted for one of the Prix du livre d’Ottawa/Ottawa Book Awards, in the French Non-Fiction Category recognizing a Francophone author who published an outstanding work of non-fiction.
The week of September 19, 2016, the City of Ottawa announced the finalists for the 2016 Prix du livre d’Ottawa and Ottawa Book Awards, among them Jean-Daniel Lafond for his latest book: Un désir d’Amérique, fragments nomades.
In "Un désir d'Amérique", Jean-Daniel Lafond tells a personal, introspective story: from when he first became aware of his vocation for filmmaking to the reasons behind his exile, from his ideological interrogations to his political commitments, from his thoughts on the meaning of life to the search for peaceful means of struggle against barbarism, from the women he loved to the sun-woman who shares his life, and whose life he shares today.
The Ottawa Book Awards and Prix du livre d’Ottawa recognize the top English and French books published in the previous year. Both awards have separate categories for fiction and non-fiction. All shortlisted finalists receive $1,000 and each winner receives a prize of $7,500. The Prix du livre d’Ottawa for non-fiction is awarded to Francophone authors who published outstanding works of non-fiction including biographies, memoirs, cultural histories, literary journalism and essays.
The 2016 Prix du livre d’Ottawa for French Non-Fiction was given to Patricia Smart, whom we congratulate, for her book "De Marie de l’Incarnation à Nelly Arcan", by Éditions du Boréal. The other two finalists were Jean Mohsen Fahmy, for "Chrétiens d’Orient, le courage et la foi", published by Médiaspaul, and Catherine Voyer-Léger, for "Métier critique", by Éditions du Septentrion – Hamac.