What you need to know about 2016 French literary prizes
From a French literary perspective, Autumn is probably the most hectic and exciting season! Indeed, prizes announcements follow closely “la rentrée littéraire". Let’s look at the “cuvée 2016”, full of surprises and emotions for both publishers and readers.
Tuesday 25th October – the Prix Femina (the most feminist)
This year, straight after the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie française was granted to Le Dernier des nôtres, an historical novel by Adelaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre, the Prix Femina kicked off the season by announcing its prize list. Le Garçon, by Marcus Malte, “a great epic, a wonderful story that brings back to life the myth of the wild child who reaches civilisation” according to the President of the jury Mona Ozouf, was awarded “best novel in French”. For her part, Ghislaine Dunant was selected for the “Essay” category with Charlotte Delbo. La vie retrouvée, while Lebanese-American Rabi Alameddine’s Les Vies de papier was distinguished as the best “foreign novel”.
Created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse (today known as Femina), the Prix Femina was originally conceived to make a counter-proposal to the Prix Goncourt that used to award mainly men writers. The Femina’s characteristic is its exclusively female jury, even if the selected authors are both men and women.
Wednesday 2nd November – the Prix Médicis (the youngest, also supposed to be the most avant-gardist one)
Writer and historian Ivan Jablonka won the 2016 Prix Médicis with a book which is both a novel and a work of non-fiction investigative journalism. Laëtitia ou la Fin des hommes, inspired by a sordid news item, subtly reflects on the role of the media and justice in contemporary French society.
The Prix Médicis “Essai”, which honours a non-fiction work, was awarded to Boxe, by Jacques Henric, while Les Élus, by Swedish Steve-Sem Sandberg, won the Prix Médicis “Étranger”, which rewards a book published in translation.
Patron of the Arts Gala Barbisan and writer, politician and architect Jean-Pierre Giraudoux founded in 1958 the Prix Médicis, wishing to turn the spotlight on an author whose “fame does not yet match the talent”.
Thursday 3rd November – The Prix Goncourt (the best known, the oldest and the most prestigious one)
As every year, the Académie Goncourt deliberated at Drouant historical restaurant. The prize was awarded to Leïla Slimani, a young French writer born in Morocco. Her psychological and disturbing thriller titled Chanson douce, which was already a bestseller and opens with the killing of two children by their nanny, is “a novel on class struggle in a bourgeois apartment, about possession of the children’s love”, summarizes Bernard Pivot, the Head of the 10 members Academy.
Officially founded in 1902, the Prix Goncourt is given by the eponym academy to a French-speaking writer awarded for “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year”. Nowadays, the Académie Goncourt also rewards a “premier roman” (first novel), a “nouvelle” (short-story), a “biographie” (biography), and a poetic work. Not forgetting the Prix Goncourt des lycéens, that was created in 1987 as a collaboration between the Académie Goncourt, the French Ministry of Education and Fnac (a retail chain that sells cultural products) and has selected in 2016 Babylone by Yasmina Reza as its favourite book.
Thursday 3rd November – the Prix Renaudot (the non-official twin of the Prix Goncourt)
Playwright, novelist and screenwriter Yasmina Reza won the Prix Renaudot for her latest novel Babylone, a quirky thriller, which is also a literary caustic shooting gallery. The Prix Renaudot “Essai” and “Poche” (Paperback) come down to Aude Lancelin for Le Monde libre and Stéphanie Janicot for La Mémoire du monde.
The Prix Renaudot, named after the man who created the first French newspaper, was founded in 1926 by 10 literary critics. Even if this prize is not officially related to the Prix Goncourt, its jury announces its laureate at the same time and place as the Academy and always selects an alternative book in case its first choice is rewarded by the Goncourt.
Congratulations to all those talented authors! And also to Serge Joncour, who won the Prix Interallié (awarded for a novel written by a journalist) on 8th November with Repose-toi sur moi. And last but not least to Nina Yargekov, who received on the same day, for Double nationalité, the very “germanopratin” Prix de Flore (created in 1994 by writer Frédéric Beigbeder to reward young authors) at Café de Flore, one of the oldest and more mythical cafés of Paris.
Waiting for those amazing books to be translated into English, here is the list of the recently awarded titles, which shows that French literary prizes are not always won by “Galligrasseuil” (i.e. three of the important publishing houses: Gallimard, Grasset and Le Seuil).
Le Dernier des nôtres, Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre, Grasset.
Le Garçon, Marcus Malte, Zulma.
Charlotte Delbo. La vie retrouvée, Ghislaine Dunant, Grasset.
Les Vies de papier, Rabih Alameddine, Les Escales.
Laëtitia ou la Fin des hommes, Ivan Jablonka, Le Seuil.
Boxe, Jacques Henric, Le Seuil.
Les Élus, Steve Sem-Sandberg, Robert Laffont.
Chanson douce, Leïla Slimani, Gallimard.
Babylone, Yasmina Reza, Flammarion.
Le Monde libre, Aude Lancelin, Les liens qui libèrent.
La Mémoire du monde, Stéphanie Janicot, Le Livre de Poche.
Repose-toi sur moi, Serge Joncour, Flammarion.
Double nationalité, Nina Yargekov, P.O.L.