Évoquer Le Prix De La Page 112

The French love their books. I realise this because I learn they have around 2,000 literary prizes.

Yet something is rotten in the state of Les Gaulois.

It appears they feel new stories ain’t what they used to be.

Apparently, they nowadays tend to ‘sag in the middle’. Modern French books can start off quite well, but then ‘go off the boil’. They’ve a “soft underbelly”. ‘Flabby writers need to tighten their midrift’. Even worse, there’s a problem with too many also being either boring or over-hyped by their marketers. Or both.

To mend this malaise a (surprisingly un-french) tongue-in-cheek award looks solely at Page 112. Inspired by a Woody Allen character in the film Hannah And Her Sisters who recommends this very page of an EE Cummings set of poems. I carry your point with me.

It seems to have gained traction. This year there are 430 competing works vying for the magnum of fine wine, €1,200 and accolade.

Which naturally got me thinking. There is a glimmer of a Sales crossover here.

Most ‘prizes’ are obvious. Biggest Numbers abound. Perhaps that’s ripe for review too. Where you run a team, and wish to reinforce a certain style.

A specific page number from a Prop doesn’t feel apt. Nor designated slide from a deck. Yet you could ask each ‘author’ to provide their personal favourite.

Whether presentation page or document text, you could certainly evoke the spirit of Cummings, French Resistance and all round written improvements. I carry your quota with me, I carry it in my…