"Brief Encounter!": A Look Back at the 2024 Short Story Contest at ILCF

Discovering a Genre

The short story contest at the Institut de Langue et de Culture Françaises (ILCF) of the ICP is much more than just a writing competition: it is an exercise in written production that engages many participants and involves substantial support from the teachers. For several months, students were guided in discovering how to write a short story and explore the genre. During the informational meeting, they received valuable advice from Sophie Verroest to understand the specific constraints of this genre.

The students had to follow several rules:

• Begin their story with a sentence taken from The Last Customer, a short story by Sophie Verroest,
• Respect a maximum length requirement,
• Adhere to the theme.

This "brief encounter" theme was expressed through love stories, a meeting between a witch and a servant, or even a smile exchanged on a bus. The jury, composed of volunteer students, the professors organizing the contest, the guest author, and a member of the ILCF administrative staff, met to select the winners among the participants, ranging from level B1 to level C1. Their texts were compiled into a collection that symbolizes their hard work and talent.
 

Sophie Verroest, Guest of Honor

The short story contest brings the ILCF together around a common project, celebrated by everyone: the guest author, administrative staff, professors, and all the students. The award ceremony was integrated into the end-of-session celebration to honor the creativity and language mastery of the participants.

Sophie Verroest, short story author, documentary filmmaker, and director, presented the awards to the winners. She praised the students for their ability to bring a story to life in a language that is not their own, emphasizing the importance of this initiative in encouraging the learning of French. This 2024 edition once again demonstrated that learning French can be both fun and innovative. By offering students the opportunity to express their imagination and improve their language skills, ILCF continues to promote a dynamic and enriching teaching method.