Soli Deo Gloria by writer Jean-Christophe Deveney and artist Édouard Cour (Dupuis) was picked the 2026 recipient of the Fnac France Inter Prix BD. The winner, chosen by a final panel of journalists and booksellers, was announced live on daily morning show La Grande Matinale on January 7 during a special day of programming devoted to comics.
Set within the Holy Roman Empire, sometime during the early modern period, Soli Deo Gloria – ‘Glory Be To God’, a Latin phrase commonly used by classical artists, composers, and musicians to imply their work was inspired by or in praise of God – follows two orphans who find hope through music.
The book’s synopsis [translated via DeepL]:
“Born under the clouded skies of the Holy Roman Empire, Hans and Helma were destined for a life of hard labor and poverty. Their gift and love for music offered them hope, a glimmer of light in their dark and dreary daily lives.
“After the loss of their family, they were taken in by a hermit musician who introduced them to the rich variety of sounds found in nature.
“They were then admitted to a religious boarding school, where they learned the basics of reading and music theory, enabling them to decipher the most beautiful compositions of their time.
“Adopted by a margrave, a warlord, they went on to discover the beauty of musical instruments.
“The palaces of several European cities will finally bear silent witness to their success and their cruelest disappointments.
“Borrowing from the conventions of the coming-of-age novel, Soli Deo Gloria offers a harsh tale imbued with beauty and hope.”
The annual Fnac France Inter award has been running since 2013. Winners are selected via a multitiered selection process that mixes critics, booksellers, and public participation.
Winners of the prize get major promotion on France Inter public radio, and prominent placement in Fnac retail chains (which usually have really sizeable comics sections). They will also be invited to public signings at Fnac stores across France, starting at the Paris store on January 20 with dates in other regions scheduled every month through to April.
Fnac is France’s leading bookseller that usually sells around 9.5 million comics per year across the country. France Inter is a public radio station that has an estimated 7 million daily listeners. Combined, any promotional campaign will give a pretty significant sales bump to a book, especially in such a strong comics market as France.
Soli Deo Gloria beat an impressive array of finalists including a graphic memoir about a young Iranian girl seeking escape from an oppressive patriarchal society, Ces Lignes qui tracent mon corps, by Mansoureh Kamari (Casterman); a work of historical fiction about the bodyguards of General Charles de Gaulle after he assumed the French Presidency, Les Gorilles du Général: Septembre 59, by Xavier Dorison & Julien Telo (Casterman); a graphic portrait of a 19-year-old sex worker, Sibylline, chroniques d’une escort girl, by Sixtine Dano (Glénat); and Mathieu Bablet’s eco-scifi tale Silent Jenny (Rue de Sevres/Label 619). Thus far only Silent Jenny is known to be getting an English language release at the current time but any awards attention can help grease the wheels for an English language pickup.
The 2025 recipient of the Fnac France Inter Prix BD was Scotland-based New Yorker cartoonist Will McPhail’s debut graphic novel In. First released in English in 2021 by Sceptre, it was published in French as Au-Dedans by 404 Éditions in 2024.
