The prix Contrepoint is a French

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. ...

established in 1971 by a group of young French novelists and journalists. Each year a French-speaking novelist is selected. According to Bertrand Labes,. this prize was characterized at its creation as the "

Goncourt The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to ...

of young writers" as its recipients often confirmed their talent later on. The jury included Christian Giudicelli, Dominique-Pierre Larger,

Patrick Modiano Jean Patrick Modiano (; born 30 July 1945), generally known as Patrick Modiano, is a French novelist and recipient of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is a noted writer of autofiction, the blend of autobiography and historical fiction. In ...

, Claude Montcalm, Louis-Antoine Prat,

Gonzague Saint Bris Gonzague Saint Bris (16 January 1948 – 8 August 2017) was an award-winning French novelist, biographer, and journalist. He won the 2002 Prix Interallié for ''Les Vieillards de Brighton''. He was the founder of La Forêt des livres, an annual b ...

, Jean-Clément Texier, and Denys Viat. This award is distinguished by the fact that, according to its rules, the winner must pay a one Franc check to each of the eight members of the jury, "for the pains taken to read his work."

List of laureates

* 1972:

Elvire de Brissac Elvire de Brissac (born 19 January 1939) is a French novelist and biographer. Her awards include the Prix des Deux Magots, Grand prix des lectrices de Elle, Prix Contrepoint, Prix Goncourt, and the Prix Femina Essai. Biography Elvire de Brissa ...

for ''Un long mois de septembre'' ( Grasset) * 1973: Bernard Matignon for ''Les Soldats de bois'' (

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

) * 1974:

Raphaële Billetdoux Raphaële Billetdoux (born 28 February 1951 in Paris) is a French novelist. Biography She is the daughter of François Billetdoux, and was a companion of the political journalist Paul Guilbert (died July 2002). She was assistant editor on feat ...

for ''L'Ouverture des bras de l'homme'' ( Seuil) * 1975: Michel Alvès for ''Le Territoire'' (

Jean-Jacques Pauvert Jean-Jacques Pauvert (8 April 1926 – 27 September 2014) was a French publisher, notable for publishing the work of the Marquis de Sade in the early 1950s and as the first publisher of the ''Story of O'' (1954) and the first edition of Kenneth An ...

) * 1976: Jack-Alain Léger for ''Un ciel si fragile'' * 1977: Christian Giudicelli for ''Les Insulaires'' (Seuil) * 1978:

Catherine Rihoit Catherine Rihoit (Born in Caen in 1950) is a French writer. ''Portrait de Gabriel'', her first novel, appeared in 1977. In 1979, she received the Prix des Deux Magots for ''Le bal des débutantes''. Her 1982 novel ''La Nuit de Varennes ou l'Im ...

for ''Portrait de Gabriel'' ( Gallimard) * 1979: Olivier Beer for ''Le Chant des enfants morts'' (

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Alb ...

) * 1980: Jérôme Hesse for ''Surprenante Histoire d'un jeune homme de bonne famille'' (Grasset) * 1981: Jean-François Ferrané for ''Le Miroir de pierre'' ( Flammarion) * 1982:

Nancy Huston Nancy Louise Huston, OC (born September 16, 1953) is a Canadian-born novelist and essayist who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English. Biography Huston was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the city in which she ...

for ' (Seuil) * 1983: Gérard Pussey for ''L'Amour tombé du lit'' ( Denoël) * 1984: Catherine David for ''L'Océan miniature'' (Seuil) * 1985:

Thierry de Beaucé Thierry Martin de Beaucé (14 February 1943 – 25 November 2022)Thierry de Beaucé
was a Frenc ...

for ''La Chute de Tanger'' (Gallimard) * 1986: Marie Nimier for ''Sirène'' (Gallimard) * 1987:

Élisabeth Barillé Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

for ''Corps de jeune fille'' (Gallimard) * 1988: Lydie Locatelli for ''Cent mètres d'amour avec haies et obstacles'' (Albin Michel) * 1989:

for ''La Fayette, la Stature de la Liberté'' () * 1990: Régine Michel for ''Les Petits Mensonges'' () * 1991:

Ya Ding Ya Ding (; born 1959) is a Chinese writer and translator. He comes from a little village in North China and after his secondary studies he worked as a farmer thanks to Down to the Countryside Movement. After the Cultural Revolution, he created t ...

for ''Le Jeu de l'eau et du feu'' (Flammarion) * 1992: Nino Ricci for ''Les Yeux bleus et le Serpent'' (Denoël) * 1993: Jean-Olivier Tedesco for ''Le Diable et le Condottiere'' (Grasset) * 1994:

Louise Anne Bouchard Louise Anne Bouchard, originally from Quebec, is an author, screenwriter and photographer, of Canadian and Swiss citizenship. Her first novel was ''Cette fois, Jeanne...'' (1987). Works * 1987: ''Cette fois, Jeanne...'' VLB éditeur * 1993: ''La ...

for ''La Fureur'' () * 1996: Justine Lévy for ''Le Rendez-vous'' ( Plon) * 1997: Robert de Goulaine for ''Du côté de Zanzibar'' () * 1998: Jacques-Pierre Amette for ''Les Deux Léopards'' (Seuil) * 1999: Sylvie Derveloy for ''Un cœur à l'envers'' () * 2000:

Claire Castillon Claire Castillon, born May 25, 1975, in Boulogne-Billancourt (France), is a French writer. She writes novels, short stories and children's books. Life In 2000, she publishes her first novel, Le Grenier, edited by Anne Carrière, which does not ...

for ''Le Grenier'' () * 2001:

Anna Gavalda Anna Gavalda (born 23 May 1970 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French teacher and award-winning novelist. Referred to by ''Voici'' magazine as "a distant descendant of Dorothy Parker", Anna Gavalda was born in an upper-class suburb ...

for ''

Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part ''I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me Somewhere'' (French: ''Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part'') is a collection of twelve short stories written by Anna Gavalda. It was written in French and published in 1999. It is the first b ...

'' () * 2002: Anne-Sophie Brasme for ''Respire'' (Fayard) * 2003: Émilie Frèche for ''Une femme normale'' () * 2004:

Bénédicte Martin Bénédicte may refer to: *Bénédicte Augst (born 1968), French rhythmic gymnast *Bénédicte Couvreur, French film producer * Bénédicte Cronier (born 1961), French bridge player *Bénédicte Dorfman-Luzuy (born 1971), French rower * Bénédicte ...

for ''Warm up'' (Flammarion) * 2005: Constance Debré for ''Un peu là beaucoup ailleurs'' (

éditions du Rocher The Éditions du Rocher is a publishing house based in Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the Fre ...

) * 2006: Emmanuelle Heidsieck for ''Notre aimable clientèle'' (Denoël) * 2007:

Géraldine Maillet Geraldine may refer to: People * Geraldine (name), the feminine form of the first name Gerald, with list of people thus named. * The Geraldines, Irish dynasty descended from the Anglo-Norman Gerald FitzWalter de Windsor * Geraldine of Albania, ...

for ''Presque top model'' (Flammarion) * 2008: Alessandra Fra for ''Un suicide'' (

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in ...

) * 2009: Diane de Margerie for ''La passion Brando'' (Albin Michel) * 2010: Valérie de Changy for ''Fils de Rabelais'' () * 2011:

Capucine Motte Capucine Motte (born 1971) is a Belgian-born French woman of letters. A former lawyer (New York and Paris) and gallerist, she won the 2013 edition of the Roger Nimier Prize. Works * ''La Vraie Vie des jolies filles'', Éditions Jean-Claude La ...

for ''La vraie vie des jolies filles'' (

JC Lattès JC Lattès is a French publishing house. A division of Hachette Livre since 1981, JC Lattès' catalogue includes the works of Dan Brown, as well as '' Fifty Shades of Grey'' by E. L. James. Founder Jean-Claude Lattès died on 17 January 201 ...

) * 2012: Anne Plantagenet for ''Nation Pigalle'' (

Éditions Stock Stock is a French publisher, a subsidiary of Hachette Livre, which itself is part of the Lagardère Group. It was founded in the 18th century by André Cailleau, who was succeeded in 1753 by Nicolas-Bonaventure Duchesne, who published Voltaire ...

) * 2013:

Nathalie Rheims Nathalie is a female given name. It is a variant of the name Natalie/ Natalia which is found in many languages, and is especially common in French and English speaking countries. Notable people with the name include: * Nathalie, Italian singer ...

for ''Laisser les cendres s'envoler'' () * 2014: Mathilde Janin for ''Riviera'' (

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

) * 2015: As a tribute to and respect for the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to one of its founding members,

, the jury decided not to award the Prix Contrepoint 2015. * 2016:

Alessia Valli Alessia is an Italian given name, the feminine form of the male given name Alessio, the Italian form of Alexius. It is a popular name for females in Italy and was the second most popular name for Italian girls born in 2006. The name may me ...

for ''La Nostalgie du Crépuscule'' () * 2017: Isabelle Spaak for '' Ça ne se fait pas'' and ''Une allure folle'' (

Éditions des Équateurs The Éditions des Équateurs is a French publishing house founded by Olivier Frébourg in 2003. Located in Normandy, it proposes a diversified catalog of works of fiction (novels, short stories, narratives) and documents (History, testimonies ... ...

) * 2018: No award in memory of juror

, who died in 2017. * 2019: Marion Ruggieri for ''Donne-moi la main pour traverser'' (

Éditions Grasset The Grasset Editions () is a French publishing house founded in 1907 by (1881–1955). History Founder In 1913, Bernard Grasset publishes the first volume of '' À la recherche du temps perdu'', by Marcel Proust, ''Du côté de chez Swann'', ...

) and

Clarisse Gorokhoff Clarisse may refer to: People and characters * Clarisse (given name) * Eddy Clarisse (born 1972), a retired badminton player from Mauritius * Clarisse (''Percy Jackson''), a female character in the ''Percy Jackson & The Olympians'' book * Claris ...

for ''Casse-Gueule'' ( Gallimard) * 2020: Laure Pfeffer for ''Si peu la fin du monde'' ( Buchet-Chastel) and Marie-Hélène Lafon for ''Le pays d'en haut'' (Arthaud)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Prix Contrepoint de littérature 2016
on Livres Hebdo
Mathilde Janin reçoit le Prix Contrepoint de littérature française 2014
on Actes Sud

on Prix Littéraires.net French literary awards Awards established in 1971 1971 establishments in France