This prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, is traditionally awarded at the Brive-la-Gaillarde Book Fair, this year on November 4.
Settled in France since she was 25, Nathacha Appanah, 49, has drawn inspiration in her fiction from the mixed culture of Mauritius as well as from the literary tradition of her host country.
His most famous novels are "The Last Brother", "Tropic of Violence" or "Nothing Belongs to You".
The jury of the French language prize has the particularity of mixing members of the French Academy, Dany Laferrière and Danièle Sallenave, and of the Goncourt Academy, like Tahar Ben Jelloun.
Since the creation of the prize in 1986, it has rewarded authors such as Pascal Quignard, Bernard Pivot, Annie Ernaux, Hélène Cixous or Emmanuel Carrère.
Several hundred writers are expected at the 40th Foire de Brive, from November 4 to 6, whose president this year will be journalist François Busnel.
© 2022 AFP