The 18th edition of the Villeneuve-lez-Avignon thriller festival will take place from November 9 to 13 at the Chartreuse. Before these five days given to the noir novel, preparations are being put in place. One of the essentials is the price of the readers.

Between mid-March and mid-May, the festival organizers received around thirty applications to join this famous jury. Nine people were selected

: six women and three men, from different backgrounds, of different ages (from 20 to 60 years old) and of various professions (graphic designer, doctor, criminal justice, public administration, etc.). But all have in common the passion for books, and more particularly thrillers, and of course the desire to share and discuss their discoveries. Everyone will have to agree in mid-October, during the deliberations, to designate the book (**) which will be awarded the readers’ prize at the Villeneuve-lez-Avignon thriller festival. “Last year’s prize was awarded to an author whose first novel it was. Villeneuve’s readers’ prize won her recognition and she has since received other accolades. It proves that we have a sharp jury

», assures Nicole Blayrac, municipal councilor delegated to the Festival. This recognition of the thriller festival is also felt in its attendance, which now goes far beyond Villeneuve and its borders. And this is also felt in the jury from further afield.

The festival of this 18th edition will be “Trembler! » Among the jurors, there is Danièle Garnier, 60, freshly landed in Villeneuve-lez-Avignon, who loves thrillers, “an often downplayed genre that drives authors to be believable

“, or even Catherine Vincent, a 44-year-old mother from Rochefort, completely addicted to bloody detective stories and who every year takes a day off to come to the thriller festival. Géraldine Gayet, she discovered the event by falling on a poster plastered on the door of the media library. The Beaucairoise, Sophie Boudouin-Truc, keeps a superb memory of the arrival of Michel Bussi last year and encouraged by his entourage, decided to apply to become a juror. And the youngest, Johan Garcin, 20, a mathematics student at Agroparc in Avignon, reminds us that it is important to do something else, to read, between calculation and arithmetic. This year, the theme of the festival will be “Trembler! “. Self”reading is often experienced in a solitary and intimate way. We don’t often have the opportunity to talk about what disturbed us, made us have nightmares. After two years of anxiety-provoking context, which is still because of a conflict at the gates of Europe, we offer you a cathartic debriefing session where we talk about fear all together

“, loose Corinne Tonelli, president of the festival. We are already trembling with impatience!

Mary Meunier

The jurors are:
. Danièle Garnier, 60 years old, Villeneuve lez Avignon
. Catherine Vincent, 44 years old, Rochefort-du-Gard
. Geraldine Gayet, 50, Montaren
. Olivier Mathe, 43, Graveson (Bouches-du-Rhône)
. Lucile Sobczak, 25, Rochefort-du-Gard
. Sophie Boudouin-Truc, 45, Beaucaire
. Céline Bottero-Blanc, 50 years old, Cavaillon (Vaucluse)

. Tanguy Monceau, 34 years old, Avignon (Vaucluse)
. Johan Garcin, 20 years old, Avignon (Vaucluse)
(**) Selection of the Readers’ Choice Award:
. “I am the fire” by Max Monnehay (Le Seuil)
. “Usual Victims” by Gilles Vincent (Le Diable Vauvert)
. “The Botanist” by Jean-Luc Bizien (Fayard)
. “Night fallen on our souls” by Frédéric Paulin (Agullo)