Prix Goncourt des Lycéens
Encyclopedia
The Prix Goncourt des Lycéens was created in 1987 as a sort of younger sibling of the Prix Goncourt
, a prize for French language
literature. The ten members of the Académie Goncourt
select twelve literary works as nominees. Almost 2,000 lycée (roughly equivalent to high school
) students read all twelve novels, participate in discussions and debates about them, and ultimately vote on the winner.
While the prize bears the name of the Académie Goncourt
, the competition is sponsored and organized by the French Ministry of National Education and the media retailer FNAC, with the stated goal of encouraging young people to read.
Each year's winner is announced in Rennes on the same day as the announcement of the Prix Goncourt
, usually in November.
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
, a prize for French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
literature. The ten members of the Académie Goncourt
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt , usually called the académie Goncourt , is a French literary organization based in Paris. It was founded by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Goncourt...
select twelve literary works as nominees. Almost 2,000 lycée (roughly equivalent to high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
) students read all twelve novels, participate in discussions and debates about them, and ultimately vote on the winner.
While the prize bears the name of the Académie Goncourt
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt , usually called the académie Goncourt , is a French literary organization based in Paris. It was founded by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Goncourt...
, the competition is sponsored and organized by the French Ministry of National Education and the media retailer FNAC, with the stated goal of encouraging young people to read.
Each year's winner is announced in Rennes on the same day as the announcement of the Prix Goncourt
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
, usually in November.
Prize winners
- 1988: Erik OrsennaÉrik OrsennaÉrik Orsenna is the pen-name of Érik Arnoult , a French politician and novelist. After studying philosophy and political science at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris , Orsenna specialized in economics at the London School of Economics...
, L’Exposition coloniale (Seuil) - 1989: Jean VautrinJean VautrinJean Vautrin, Jean Vautrin, (John Herman) Jean Vautrin, (John Herman) (born May 17, 1933 Pagny-sur-Moselle is a French writer, filmmaker, and screenwriter.-Life:After studying literature at Auxerre, he took first place in the Id'HEC competition. He studied French literature at the University of...
, Un grand pas vers le Bon Dieu (Grasset) - 1990: Françoise Lefèvre, Le Petit Prince cannibale (Actes Sud)
- 1991: Pierre CombescotPierre CombescotPierre Combescot is a French journalist and writer. He works for the Canard Enchaîné, under the pseudonym Luke Décygnes...
, Les Filles du calvaire (Grasset) - 1992: Edouardo Manet, L’Ile du lézard vert (Flammarion)
- 1993: Anne WiazemskyAnne WiazemskyPrincess Anne Wiazemsky is a French actress and novelist, of the Russian Rurikid family of Princes Vyazemsky-Counts Levashov. Through her mother, she is the granddaughter of François Mauriac. She appeared in Robert Bresson's Au hasard Balthazar and in Godard's films La Chinoise and Week End...
, Canines (Gallimard) - 1994: Claude Pujade-RenaudClaude Pujade-RenaudClaude Pujade-Renaud is a French writer, whose first novel Le Ventriloque appeared in 1978. Since that time she has published over twenty novels, short-story and poetry collections, as well as combined creative works with long-time partner Daniel Zimmermann...
, Belle-Mère (Actes Sud) - 1995: Andreï MakineAndreï MakineAndreï Makine is a Russian-born French author. He also publishes under the pseudonym Gabriel Osmonde. Makine's novels include Dreams of My Russian Summers which won two top French awards, the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis.-Biography:Andreï Makine was born in Krasnoyarsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet...
, Le Testament français (Mercure de France) - 1996: Nancy HustonNancy HustonNancy Louise Huston, OC is a Canadian-born novelist and essayist who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English.-Biography:...
, Instruments des ténèbres (Actes Sud) - 1997: Jean-Pierre Milovanoff, Le Maître des paons (Julliard)
- 1998: Luc Lang, Mille six cents ventres (Fayard)
- 1999: Jean-Marie LaclavetineJean-Marie LaclavetineJean-Marie Laclavetine is a French editor, writer and translator of Italian literature into French.- Biography :...
, Première ligne (Gallimard) - 2000: Ahmadou KouroumaAhmadou KouroumaAhmadou Kourouma was an Ivorian novelist.-Life:The eldest son of a distinguished Malinké family, Ahmadou Kourouma was born in 1927 in Côte d'Ivoire. Raised by his uncle, he initially pursued studies in Bamako, Mali...
, Allah n’est pas obligé (Seuil) - 2001: Shan SaShan SaShan Sa is the pseudonym of Yan Ni , a French author and painter. The Girl Who Played Go was the first of her novels to be published outside of France, and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens . Her second novel to appear in English translation was Empress...
, La Joueuse de Go (Grasset) - 2002: Laurent GaudéLaurent GaudéLaurent Gaudé is a French writer.He studied theater and has written many dramatic works, among them Onysos le furieux, Cendres sur les mains, Médée Kali, and Le Tigre bleu de l'Euphrate.-Awards:...
, La Mort du roi Tsongor (Actes Sud) - 2003: Yann Apperry, Farrago (Grasset)
- 2004: Philippe Grimbert, Un secret (Grasset)
- 2005: Sylvie GermainSylvie Germain-Early life and education:During her childhood, with her three brothers and sisters, she moved from city to city, depending on the assignments her sub-prefect father received....
, Magnus (Albin Michel) - 2006: Léonora MianoLéonora MianoLéonora Miano is a Cameroonian-French author. She has lived in France since 1991.She criticized her translations into English.-Works:*L'Intérieur de la nuit, Plon, 2005 ; Pocket, 2006, ISBN 2266162683...
, Contours du jour qui vient (Plon) - 2007: Philippe ClaudelPhilippe ClaudelPhilippe Claudel , is a French writer and film director.Claudel was born in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, Meurthe-et-Moselle. In addition to his writing, Claudel is a Professor of Literature at the University of Nancy....
, Le rapport de Brodeck (Stock) - 2008; Catherine Cusset, Un brillant avenir
- 2009: Jean-Michel Guenassia, Le Club des incorrigibles optimistes
- 2010: Mathias Énard, Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d'élephants, (Actes Sud 2010)
External links
- http://www.gdlfnac.com (Official site, in French)
- http://www.education.gouv.fr/actu/goncourtlyc.html (Ministry of Education press release announcing 2005 winner, in French)