Europe 1 with AFP 2:02 p.m., October 25, 2022
The Goncourt Prize jury has finally unveiled the four finalists for its 2022 edition. A surprise for some, because the favorites Monica Sabolo and Grégoire Bouillier are not among the final names.
On the home stretch, however, two women and two men, who will have to wait until November 3 to find out who will win the prestigious prize.
The Goncourt Prize jury has selected four novels as finalists for its 2022 edition, those by Giuliano da Empoli, Brigitte Giraud, Cloé Korman and Makenzy Orcel, he announced Tuesday in Beirut.
The prestigious award is to be presented, as tradition dictates, at the Drouant restaurant in Paris on November 3.
Four strong stories
The Italian-Swiss Giuliano da Empoli, with "Le Mage du Kremlin" (Gallimard), a novel released in April, recounts the itinerary of a fictional adviser to Vladimir Putin, an opportunity to return to the history of Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union.
In "Live fast" (Flammarion), Brigitte Giraud evokes the last days of her husband, killed in a motorcycle accident in 1999, and the consequences of this tragedy.
Cloé Korman, with "The almost sisters" (Seuil), signs an investigation into child victims of the Shoah, cousins of her father.
The Haitian Makenzy Orcel, in "A human sum" (Rivages), speaks from beyond the grave, on 600 pages in an abundant and uninterrupted language, a woman inhabited by poetry and violence.
>> READ ALSO -
The Goncourt prize awarded to the Senegalese Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Surprising eliminations
The jury eliminated two titles that seemed to be favorites at the time of the literary season, "La Vie clandestine" by Monica Sabolo and "Le cœur ne cédez pas" by Grégoire Bouillier.
The Académie Goncourt was in Beirut as part of the first edition of a literary festival organized by the Institut français in this large French-speaking city.
Several jurors gave up going there, because they did not feel welcome after remarks by Lebanese Minister of Culture Mohammad Mourtada, close to the Shiite movement Amal, an ally of the powerful pro-Iranian group Hezbollah.