Hodler Prize Jury

Dear all, chers tous,

The Hodler Prize is delighted to unveil its first international jury: 9 eminent figures from literature, art, technology and journalism, who have contributed their knowledge, enthusiasm and curiosity to the selection of 18 texts, published or translated into English during 2023.

We'd like to thank them for responding to the invitation of a prize that didn't yet exist. They are the soul of this first edition.

We look forward to seeing you next week to discover the texts in competition, emblematic of the Hodler Prize's editorial line: sharp and eclectic, whose sole obsession is the authors' search for truth.

Le Hodler Prize est heureux de dévoiler son premier jury international : 9 personnalités éminentes de la littérature, de l’art, de la technologie et du journalisme, qui ont mis leur connaissance, leur enthousiasme et leur curiosité dans la sélection de 18 textes, publiés ou traduits en anglais durant l’année 2023.

Nous les remercions pour avoir accepté l’invitation d’un Prix qui n’existait pas encore. Ils sont l’âme de cette première édition.

Et nous vous donnons rendez-vous la semaine prochaine pour découvrir les textes en compétition, emblématiques de la ligne éditoriale du Hodler Prize : exigeante et éclectique, dont la seule obsession est la recherche de vérité de chaque auteur.

Martin Bethenod

Martin Bethenod was General Curator of FIAC, Foire internationale d'art contemporain de Paris (2004-2010. Deputy editor-in-chief of Connaissance des arts (2001 - 2002), then editor-in-chief of Vogue France (2002 - 2003), he joined the French Ministry of Culture and Communication as Délégué aux arts plastiques (2003 - 2004). In 2010, he was appointed Managing Director of Palazzo Grassi SpA, in charge of the Pinault Collection sites in Venice, Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana.  In 2016, in parallel with these functions, he was appointed Managing Director of Collection Pinault Paris, in charge of the Bourse de Commerce project.

Emanuele Coccia

Emanuele Coccia has been teaching at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris since 2011. His books, translated into many languages, include La vie sensible (2010), La vie des plantes (2016), Métamorphose (2020) and Philosophie de la maison (2021). He has published a book of phototheory with photographer Viviane Sassen(Alchimie Moderne, 2022) He has directed animated videos such as Quercus (2019, with Formafantasma), Heaven in Matter (2021, with Faye Formisano) and The Portal of Mysteries (2022, with Dotdotdot). In 2019, he contributed to the exhibition Nous les Arbres, presented at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris. He edited the catalogs for the 23rd Milan Architecture and Design Triennial: Unknown Unknowns. An introduction to mysteries. He is currently writing a four-hander on the relationship between fashion and philosophy with Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele.

Chelsea E. Manning

Chelsea E. Manning is a technologist and network security expert whose actions showed the world that the conscience of individuals can make urgent change through bravery and determination. She speaks on the social, technological, and economic ramifications of Artificial Intelligence, and on the practical applications of machine learning. She is a vocal advocate for government transparency and queer and transgender rights as @xychelsea on X and through her op-ed columns for The Guardian and The New York Times.

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich is the author of THE FACT OF A BODY: A Murder and a Memoir, which received a Lambda Literary Award, the Chautauqua Prize, the Grand Prix des Lectrices Elle, the Prix des libraires du Quebec, and the Prix France Inter-JDD. It has been translated into eleven languages and is in development with HBO. A 2023 United States Artist fellow, and the Rogers Chair in Creative Nonfiction at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Marzano-Lesnevich’s next book is Both and Neither, forthcoming from Doubleday and publishers internationally.

Rachel Monroe

Rachel Monroe is a writer based in Marfa, Texas. She is currently a contributing writer for the New Yorker primarily covering Texas and the southwest, and her writing has previously appeared in Harper's, the New York Times Magazine, the Guardian, the Atlantic, Wired, and Esquire. Her book, Savage Appetites : True stories of Women. Crime, and Obsession (Scribner 2019) was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and named a best book of the year by Esquire, the Chicago Tribune, and Jezebel. She has been a finalist for a Livingston Award for Young Journalists and named as one of 56 women journalists everyone should read by New York Magazine. Her work has also been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing 2018 and Unspeakable Acts : True Tales of Crime, Murder, Deceit, and Obsession.  

Tolu Ogunlesi

Tolu Ogunlesi most recently worked as Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria on Digital and New Media, and Head of the Presidency Office of Digital Engagement (PODE). Prior to this he worked as Strategic Communications Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment. Between 2009 and 2015 he worked as a journalist, columnist and contributor to Nigerian and international newspapers, including the Financial Times, New York Times, Financial Mail (South Africa), Forbes Africa, the London Guardian, CNN.com and several others. He’s a two-time winner of the CNN Multichoice African Journalism Award; a Nordic Africa Institute Guest Writer (2008); a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellow (2013); a 2015 New Media Fellow of the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP); a 2016 Winner of Nigeria’s DAME Prize for Informed Commentary; 2021 Laureate of the French-African Foundation Young Leaders Program, and a 2022-2023 Fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

Diego Ongaro

Diego Ongaro is a French film director living in rural Connecticut. After directing children’s programs for French television in his early 20’s, he wrote and directed four acclaimed short films. BOB AND THE TREES, his first feature film, had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, won the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festivaland screened in more than 20 international festivals. DOWN WITH THE KING, his second feature film in which a famous rapper (Freddie Gibbs) burned out by stardom seeks a new life in the countryside, premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival (ACID), won the Grand Prix at the Deauville American Film Festival and was acquired by Sony Pictures Worldwide for distribution. AO Scott at the NY Times named the film one of the ten best films of 2022 and named Gibbs’ performance as one of the top ten performances of 2022 in the NY Times Magazine.

Adli Takkal-Bataille

Adli Takkal-Bataille, fascinated with computers from the age of three, ventured into the realm of cryptocurrencies in 2013. Adli committed to non-profit activities within the cryptocurrency sector, bringing his expertise to initiatives such as "Le Coin Coin," a leading French crypto media website, and the recurring "Les repas du Coin" meetings spanning the French-speaking world. Adli contributed to the establishment of major non-profit organizations, including "Le Cercle du Coin". Adding to his portfolio, Adli co-authored "Bitcoin, la Monnaie Acéphale," the first significant book on Bitcoin in French, which won the cybersecurity prize at the 2018 Cybersecurity International Forum. Adli's subsequent books, "Bitcoin, Métamorphoses" and "Bitcoin et protocole à blockchains," further established him as a leading voice in the crypto world.

Vanessa Walters

Vanessa Walters is an author, playwright, and journalist from the UK, now based in New York. She has previously worked for Thomson Reuters (France), The Financial Times, and the BBC. She has written variously for The Guardian (UK), The New Statesman, edited for Guardian Nigeria, and Genevieve Magazine. Her past plays include Caribbean Kitchen (Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Double Take (Sheffield Theatre), and Michael X (Almeida Theatre). Her published works are as follows. Young adult novels Rude Girls, The Best Things in Life (Pan Macmillan UK), A commissioned creative fiction and non-fiction collection Smoke! Othello! (The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea). Her debut adult novel is The Nigerwife (Simon & Schuster US)/The Lagos Wife (Penguin RandomhouseUK). As well as writing, Vanessa is a mentor and community advocate, on the board of Pen Parentis, an organization supporting parents who write, and The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.

We now invite you to become the 10th voice of the jury.

You've read important texts that deserve to be shared. A screenplay, a press article, a novel? Leave a comment in the comments section of this post, and let us know which texts have moved or impressed you, and which may be selected for the competition.

Nous vous invitons maintenant à devenir la 10ème voix du jury.

Vous avez lu cette année des textes importants, qui méritent d’être partagés. Un essai, un scénario, un article de presse, un roman ? Laissez dans les commentaires de ce post, le ou les textes, dont les fulgurances vous ont émus ou impressionnés, ils seront peut être sélectionnés pour intégrer la compétition.