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Film student wins lit youth award in France

First-time short-story writer emerges from a pack of nearly 1,000 submissions
March 7, 2011
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By Matthew Hays

Source: Concordia Journal

Karim Haroun’s first short story earned him recognition through the Prix du Jeune Ecrivain. | Photo by Concordia University
Karim Haroun’s first short story earned him recognition through the Prix du Jeune Ecrivain. | Photo by Concordia University

Concordia fine arts student Karim Haroun says he was “completely thrilled and surprised” to learn he has won a prestigious literary prize in France.

Haroun, an international student from Lebanon now in his third year of a BFA in film production, will be travelling to France to attend the launch of the Prix du Jeune Ecrivain’s annual anthology of winning entries from writers between the ages of 18 and 26. Haroun’s short story was chosen (along with 11 others) from 936 entries. The winners will be feted at the Salon du livre de Paris in late March.

Haroun says his story was inspired by his experiences growing up in conflict-ridden Beirut. At approximately 3,000 words, the story is titled “Le Conte de la maison bête”, which roughly translates to “The Tale of the Idiot House.” “The story is about a house in Lebanon during the war,” Haroun explains. “The civil war is going on and bombs are falling, except on this one particular house, which is somehow spared. Two children live in the house with their grandmother, but they somehow don’t see the war around them.”

Haroun says he’s extremely excited by the response to the story, especially considering it’s his first piece of short fiction. “About a year ago, I was struggling to write a script for my student film. A friend of mine showed me the ad for this competition and urged me to enter it. I felt like there was no way I could write this story in a month. He pushed me. I have dedicated the story to him as a result.”

Haroun says the idea for the story hit him while he was on a Montreal bus. “I started to see the outline and story. Then I mapped out the ideas for the story in my head in about a day. Then there’s the hard work of actually being disciplined and sitting down and writing it. A story can stay with you for two years if you let it. You actually have to write it.”

For Haroun, “there was something very strange about experiencing war during childhood. For us, the war was a long holiday, as we didn’t have to go to school and could just play at home. Through humour, I wanted readers to see how absurd war can be. If people understand that, then I’ve succeeded, as that’s what I wanted to convey.”

Launched in 1985, the Prix du Jeune Ecrivain (PJE) was started by a group of French literati as a means of helping young writers get their start. The PJE publishes the stories themselves each year in an anthology, and international authors are flown in for the launch and book fair. Since its inception, the PJE has grown in stature and prestige, with numbers of entries to the competition increasing steadily. Past winners include Jean-Baptiste Del Amo.


Related links:
•   Prix du Jeune Ecrivain
•   Film Production at Concordia



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