Goncourt and Renaudot, two literary prizes between heaven and earth

Audio 29:00

© Editions Gallimard / Buchet-Chastel

By: Catherine Fruchon-Toussaint

33 mins

A look back at the literary prizes awarded this week.

With Hervé Le Tellier, Goncourt for “The Anomaly” (Gallimard), Marie-Hélène Lafon, Renaudot for “Histoire du fils” (Buchet-Chastel) and Djaïli Amadou Amal, Goncourt des lycéens for “Les Impatientes” (Emmanuelle Collas) .

Publicity

El escritor francés Hervé Le Tellier tras haber ganado el premio Goncourt por su novela "The Anomaly", el 30 de noviembre de 2020 in París, Francia Thomas Samson AFP

“In June 2021, an insane event turns the lives of hundreds of men and women upside down, all passengers on a Paris-New York flight. Among them: Blake, a respectable family man and nonetheless hitman; Slimboy, pop star Nigerian, weary of living a lie; Joanna, a formidable lawyer caught up with her flaws; or even Victor Miesel, a confidential writer who suddenly became a cult. All believed they had a secret life. No one imagined how true it was. "

(Presentation of Gallimard editions)

Marie-Hélène Lafon after winning the Renaudot literary prize 2020 for her novel “Histoire du fils” (Buchet-Chastel).

© Thomas Samson / AFP

“The son is André. The mother is Gabrielle. The father is unknown. André is raised by Hélène, Gabrielle's sister, and her husband. He grows up among his cousins. Every summer, he finds Gabrielle who comes to spend her holidays with her family. Between Figeac, in the Lot, Chanterelle or Aurillac, in Cantal, and Paris, Histoire du fils probes the heart of a family, its ordinary happiness and its deepest dizziness, those who dig galleries in lives, under silences. "

(Presentation of Buchet-Chastel editions)

Cover of the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens © Emmanuelle Collas

"Three women, three stories, three linked destinies. This polyphonic novel traces the fate of young Ramla, torn from her love to be married to Safira's husband, while Hindu, her sister, is forced to marry her cousin . Patience! This is the one and only advice given to them by those around them, since it is unthinkable to go against Allah's will. As the Fulani proverb says: "At the end of patience, there is has heaven. "But heaven can become hell. How will these three impatient women manage to free themselves? Forced marriage, marital rape, consensus and polygamy: this novel by Djaïli Amadou Amal breaks taboos by denouncing the status of women in Sahel and gives us a moving novel on the universal issue of violence against women. "

(Presentation of Emmanuelle Collas editions)

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On the same subject

Literary awards

The Goncourt Prize awarded to Hervé Le Tellier for "L'Anomalie"

Renaudot Prize 2020: a winner and a great controversy

Literary awards

Cameroonian Djaïli Amadou Amal wins the Goncourt prize for high school students with "Les Impatientes"