To sum up

Image...Imaginary...Magic...Epinal...Imaginales!

Book fair specialised in Imaginary worlds ( fantasy, thriller, imaginary, tales and legends, historical novels), the Imaginales celebrate adventurous literature in line with Tolkien...and the great tradition of Alexandre Dumas!

Imaginary worlds festival, the Imaginales is also an illustration fair: in Epinal, Images’ City, everyone would have understood that the performers that participate in the attraction of released books are at the right place among the guests!

Each year since 2002, more than eighty writers, illustrators, comic strip artists, critics, filmmakers, scientists, are Epinal’s guests. French of course, but American, British, Italian, Spanish, Cuban, Belgian, Swiss too...Among them, famous writers like Juan Miguel Aguilera, Brian Aldiss, Jean-Pierre Andrevon, Ayerdhal, Pierre Bordage, François Cérésa, Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud (Prix Renaudot 1982), Philippe Claudel (Prix Goncourt 2004), Yves Coppens (the famous palaeontologist), Jean-Claude Dunyach, Valerio Evangelisti, Jean-Louis Fetjaine, Christian Grenier, Alain Grousset, Johan Heliot, Robin Hobb, Robert Holdstock, Gérard Klein, Roland Lehoucq (astrophysicist), Henri Loevenbruck, Michael Marshall Smith, Michel Pagel, Pierre Pelot, Gilles Servat (Breton singer and celtic fantasy writer), Robert Sheckley, Bernard Simonay, Jean-Michel Truong, Antoine Volodine (Prix du Livre Inter 2000), Bernard Werber… The list is already long !

Imaginales’mission? To break the walls between literary genres and to promote the meeting of writers from different horizons. Literary coffees in the Magic Mirror atmosphere, book bubble, conferences and debates, dedications, displays, animations, lunch with writers: everything is made to facilitate the meeting between the audience and the creators, but also between professionals of the book chain: writers, illustrators, collection directors, editors, publishers, distributors, booksellers, librarians...

Thanks to the support of the Nancy-Metz D.A.A.C. (Academic Delegation in Art education and Cultural Action), the Imaginales establish excellent relationships with the world of Education: many classes read books, meet writers and illustrators, discover movies, visit exhibitions, and are motivated by the Imaginales Prize for high school students.

A training cycle meant for advisors ( teachers, archivists, booksellers, librarians, etc.) dedicates each year a genre with the will to give to everyone proper tools to let this literature into the heart of academic programs. In 2007: the historical novel, in 2008 the fantasy.

The Imaginales Prize rewards a French novel, a translated novel, an illustration, a youth book, a short story and assigns a special prize from the jury.

Organized by the City of Epinal, the Imaginales fair benefits from many supports, particularly from the National Book Center, the Regional Direction for Cultural Actions in Lorraine, the Regional Council of Lorraine, and the Regional Council of the Vosges.

The Imaginales festival is an ambitious and original concept (to explore all areas of the imaginary) meant to satisfy the largest audience. Richness of exchanges, passion from meetings, easiness of contacts, conviviality: the Imaginales tone!