It's the French literary prizes time of the year!
French literary prizes week is upon us!
Starting this Monday and during three consecutive days, the jury of the four most eagerly awaited prizes in the French literary scene will consecrate the most eminent books published by French authors in 2018. As the Prix Femina just awarded this morning Le Lambeau by Philippe Lançon, the Prix Médicis will follow tomorrow, while the Prix Goncourt and Prix Renaudot will take place on the same day, on Wednesday 7 November. To prepare for this busy literary week, let’s take a closer look at those four prizes, and at the competing books.
The Prix Femina, the first to be awarded this week, is the only French literary prize whose jury is exclusively feminine. It was created in 1904 and conceived as a counter-prize to the Goncourt, in order to favour the representation of women in the literary marketplace. This year, the prize will be attributed by a jury presided by Mona Ozouf and composed of ten other women: Evelyne Bloch-Dano, Claire Gallois, Anne-Marie Garat, Paula Jacques, Christine Jordis, Camille Laures, Danièle Sallenave, Josyane Savigneau, Chantal Thomas, and Diane de Margerie. The laureate Philippe Lançon was chosen from a short-list of seven French novels:
Arcadie by Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam (P.O.L.) is about a young girl named Farah whose feminine corporal attributed tend to masculinize, and who struggles with her sexual identity, asking herself what it means to be a woman or a man.
Frère d’âme by David Diop (Seuil): with this book, David Diop is a contestant for three of the four prizes awarded this week and seems to be in a good position to win at least one of the prizes, according to literary critics. This book is about the Senegalese ‘Tirailleurs’, infantrymen who fought during the Great War alongside France, depicting the horror and trauma of those who lived this total war.
Trois enfants du tumulte by Yves Bichet (Mercure de France) is about the events of May 1968, and takes place during the demonstrations, written the year of the 50th anniversary of the events.
François, portait d’un absent (Gallimard) by Michaël Ferrier is about a man remembering his past he shared with a recently deceased friend.
Idiotie by Pierre Guyotat (Grasset): the author recounts two years of his youth and his urges of rebellion, with the background of the Algerian independence war animating his family life
Le lambeau by Philippe Lançon (Gallimard) Philippe Lançon is a journalist and he was present during the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks, in which he was deeply wounded. He wrote this novel to relate these events.
Roissy by Tiffany Tavernier (Sabine Wespieser) is about a homeless woman who navigates the halls of the Roissy airport, who talks to people, going from one terminal to another, on a human adventure.
The Prix Médicis will then be awarded tomorrow, on Tuesday 6 November. This prize awards authors who are starting their writing career, or not yet renowned for it. There are three categories in the prize: alongside the best French novel, prizes for the best foreign novel of the year as well as the best essay will be honoured. The jury is presided by Michel Braudeau and there again has ten other members: Marianne Alphant, Marie Darrieussecq, Dominique Fernandez, Anne F. Garréta, Patrick Grainville, Andreï Makine, Frédéric Mitterrand, Christine de Rivoyre, Pascale Roze et Alain Veinstein. The French literature prize will go to one of the seven finalists, chosen by the jury. Among the seven novels, three were also nominated for other prizes: Frère d’âme, Arcadie, and Idiotie. The four other competing novels are:
Tous les hommes désirent naturellement savoir by Nina Bouraoui (JC Lattès) is about a woman’s memories of her youth in the 1980s, reflecting the political and social climate in Algeria at the time.
Par les écrans du monde by Fanny Taillandier (Seuil) tells us the story of a man who tells his children he has the feeling he is about to die… on the morning of the 11th of September 2001.
Ça raconte Sarah de Pauline Delabroy-Allard (Minuit) is the only first published novel to be nominated in one of the prizes. The novel is about the figure of a young, wild and mysterious woman.
L’eau qui passe by Franck Maubert (Gallimard) is a novel about childhood and family memories.
Then, on Wednesday, the last two prizes will be awarded on the same day and in the same place; the Prix Goncourt first, and then the Renaudot prize. First, the Goncourt prize is one of the most prestigious literary prizes in French language, awarded by the Académie Goncourt: Bernard Pivot, president of the jury, Pierre Assouline, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Françoise Chandernagor, Philippe Claudel, Paule Constant, Didier Decoin, Virginie Despentes, Patrick Rambaud, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. The four finalists are:
Nicolas Mathieu, Leurs enfants après eux (Actes Sud), is about two cousins spending the summer and discovering love.
Paul Greveillac, Maîtres et esclaves (Gallimard), is set in communist China and follows a young man, coming from a family of Chinese peasants, who becomes the official painter of the Popular Republic of China.
Thomas B. Reverdy, L'Hiver du mécontentement (Flammarion), with a very British theme: in London in 1979, a young actress stars in Shakespeare’s Richard III, and witnesses the waves of social unrest during this winter of discontent that facilitated the political rise of Margaret Thatcher.
David Diop, Frères d'armes (Seuil), nominated again!
Finally, the Prix Renaudot will take place later on Wednesday, right after the president of the Académie Goncourt announces its laureate. The ten members of the jury, Patrick Besson, Frédéric Beigbeder, Dominique Bona, Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, Jérôme Garcin, Louis Gardel, Franz-Olivier Giesbert, Christian Giudicelli, Jean-Marie Gustave le Clézio, and Jean-Noël Pancrazi, have chosen five novels that will be competing for the prize.
L’ère des suspects, Gilles Martin-Chauffier (Grasset) is about the death of a young man of North African origins, who had been chased by a police officer the day before. Everyone gets involved but never seems to look for what really matters: to find out who is guilty. This novel calls into question the role of the mediatic system.
L’âge d’or, Diane Mazloum (JC Lattès) is set in Lebanon at the end of the 1960s and follows the path and love encounters of two young people, a young woman named Miss Universe and a young Palestinian man engaged at war. It depicts the civil war in Lebanon and its ravaging effects.
Quitter le rang des assassins by Pierre Notte (Gallimard) is the last competing novel. It takes the form of an investigation, where the narrator tries to portray a mysterious man.
Frère d’âme (David Diop) and Le Lambeau (Philippe Lançon), already mentioned for the previous prizes, will also be competing for the Renaudot.
Only a few more days before the jury deliberates and announces who the laureates for these literary prizes will be; until then, we can (re)discover the winning novels of the 2017 prizes:
We wish every nominated author the best of luck!
Don't forget to follow the Book Office's official Twitter account for more literary news!