Pastiche Competition 2020

Concours de pastiches proustiens 2020

Introduction

In order to recall Marcel Proust's taste for literary pastiche, the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust is organising a Proustian pastiche competition. The writer often indulged in this game*, notably in 1908-1909, in a series of articles concerning the same news item, L'Affaire Lemoine. These pastiches were gathered together in 1919 in a volume entitled Pastiches et Mélanges. Le Temps retrouvé, the final volume of A la recherche du temps perdu, also contains a famous pastiche of the Journal of the Goncourt brothers. Proust's own style has itself often been pastiched, notably by André Maurois (Le côté de Chelsea) and Jean-Louis Curtis (La Chine m'inquiète; La France m'épuise).

* Here is what Proust writes in Contre Sainte-Beuve to explain his taste for pastiche: "As soon as I read an author, I very quickly discerned beneath the words the tune of the song that, in each author, is different from what it is in every other, and while reading, without realising it, I would hum it, hastening the words or slowing them down or interrupting them altogether, as one does when singing, where one often waits a long time, according to the measure of the tune, before uttering the end of a word. I knew full well that if, never having been able to work, I did not know how to write, I had that ear finer and truer than many others, which enabled me to produce pastiches, for among writers, once you have the tune, the words come very quickly."

Three categories of entry

The competition is open in three categories: the professional category, the amateur category and the school category.

The professional category is open to anyone who has already published a literary work (other than at their own expense).

The amateur category is open to anyone who has never published a literary work (other than at their own expense).

The school category is open to all classes of secondary education, state or private. Entries are made collectively, in the name of the class.

For each entrant, only one text will be considered, whatever the category of entry; should an entrant submit several applications, only the last one received will be examined.

Form and nature of the pastiches

The form chosen for the competition is that of a text comprising, including spaces:

• between 4,500 and 10,000 characters for the professional category
• between 2,500 and 5,000 characters for the amateur category
• between 1,500 and 3,000 characters for the school category

This text must also comply with the following characteristics:

• be an original, unpublished work;
• bear a title;
• be written in French, typed in calibri font, size 11, paginated, in Word (.doc) or Open Office (.odt) format;
• contain no information allowing the author of the pastiche to be identified (their name or pseudonym, in particular);
• draw on Proust's style to give the illusion that the text could be from his pen. The subject treated need not, however, be contemporary with Proust's own world (in his own pastiches, Proust did not hesitate to resort to a few anachronisms);
• to mark, in 2020, the 100th anniversary of the publication of Côté de Guermantes I, the third volume of the Recherche, the pastiche must include the word Guermantes (although the meaning given to this proper noun may naturally differ from the one Proust gave it).

Terms of entry

Entry requires the submission of a complete application file comprising:

• the "Concours de pastiches proustiens 2020" entry form;
• the pastiche.

Entries are submitted on this page.

Once the entry has been submitted, the entrant will receive a confirmation email that their file has been duly received.
By the mere fact of their participation, entrants guarantee the organisers and members of the jury against any dispute that might be raised by third parties as to the originality of the works submitted.
Any incomplete or non-compliant file, or one received after the deadline, will be rejected.
The deadline for submitting pastiches is set at midnight, Paris time, on Tuesday 31 March 2020.

Selection process

A jury made up mainly of members of the board of the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust will meet to award three prizes in each category. The jury nevertheless reserves the right not to award all the prizes, for example in the event of an insufficient number of entrants.
Jury members will be guided in their choices by a set of shared criteria: resemblance to Proust's style, originality of the narrative, emotions conveyed by the text, correct spelling and grammar, and the presence of the word Guermantes in the text.

Prizes

In each category, the prizes are as follows:

• 1^st prize: €400
• 2^nd prize: €300
• 3^rd prize: €200

In addition, the best pastiches will be published on the website of the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust and may also be published in print.

The results will be announced on Saturday 16 May 2020.

Prizes may not be claimed in any form other than that provided for in these rules. The organisers reserve the right to change the nature and value of the prizes should the need arise.

Competition rules

The competition rules are available by clicking this link.

Any question relating to the Concours de Pastiches 2020 should be addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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Concours de Pastiches proustiens 2019

Pastiches received for the competition

You will find in a single document all the pastiches received before the submission deadline (31 March 2019). The results will be announced on Saturday 18 May at the book fair in Chartres, organised as part of the Printemps proustien.

Click this link for access to the document gathering all the pastiches.

Click this link for access to the document gathering the finalist pastiches.

(These are the pastiches that received at least two votes in the first round - list published on 25 April 2019)