The Grand Prix d’Angouleme for 2024 has been awarded to British newspaper cartoonist and graphic novelist Posy Simmonds, the Festival announced.  The award was announced at the 51st Festival Angouleme, currently taking place in Angouleme, France.  The Grand Prix is based on the results of an election by comics professionals.

Simmonds created multiple comic strips for British newspaper The Guardian, including Posy, Gemma Bovary, and Tamara Drewe, all of which were collected into books.  Tamara Drewe was adapted into a feature film directed by Stephen Frears, which was a surprise hit at Cannes in 2010 (see “Euro Comics Head to the Big Screen”).  More recently, Simmonds created the graphic novel Cassandra Darke, a modern take loosely based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Simmonds is the first British artist to be awarded the prestigious award.

Last year’s award winner was French artist Riad Sattouf; the 2022 award went to Canadian artist Julie Doucet (see “Julie Doucet Awarded Grand Prix”).