The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

, given by the

académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (, ''Goncourt Literary Society''), usually called the Académie Goncourt (, Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1882 by the French writer and publisher Edmo ...

to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but results in considerable recognition and book sales for the winning author. Four other prizes are also awarded: prix Goncourt du Premier Roman (first novel), prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle (short story), prix Goncourt de la Poésie (poetry) and prix Goncourt de la Biographie (biography). Of the "big six" French literary awards, the Prix Goncourt is the best known and most prestigious. The other major literary prizes include the , the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French List of literary awards, literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or Verse (poetry), verse by male ...

, the , the

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual France, French list of literary awards, literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 19 ...

and the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

History

Edmond de Goncourt, a successful author, critic, and publisher, bequeathed his estate for the foundation and maintenance of the

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (, ''Goncourt Literary Society''), usually called the Académie Goncourt (, Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1882 by the French writer and publisher Edmo ...

. In honour of his brother and collaborator, Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt (1830–1870), the académie has awarded the Prix Goncourt every December since 1903. The jury that determines the winner meets at the '' Drouant'' restaurant in November to make its decision. Notable winners of the prize include

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

(''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

''),

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

('' The Mandarins''),

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

(''

Man's Fate ''Man's Fate'' (French: ''La Condition humaine'', "The Human Condition") is a 1933 novel written by André Malraux about the failed communist insurrection in Shanghai in 1927, and the existential quandaries facing a diverse group of people asso ...

'') and

Marguerite Duras Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...

('' The Lover''). The award was initially established to provide talented new authors with a monetary award that would allow them to write a second book. Today, the Goncourt has a token prize amount (around 10 euros), about the same amount given in 1903, and so the prestige of the prize has been explained not because of the cash-value of the prize, but "in terms of the tremendous book sales it effects: the Goncourt winner becomes an instant millionaire."

Hervé Le Tellier Hervé Le Tellier (; born 21 April 1957) is a French writer and linguistics, linguist, and a member of the international literary group Oulipo (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle, which translates roughly as "workshop of potential literature") ...

's '' The Anomaly'', which won the Goncourt in 2020, exceeded a million copies in less than a year after its publication. In 1987, the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens was established, as a collaboration between the

, the French Ministry of Education, and

Fnac Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

, a book, music, and movie retailer. The is announced at the same ceremony as the Prix Goncourt. It has become known as something of a second-place prize.

Controversies

Prix Goncourt - Paris 3 novembre 2016 002

Within months of the first prize in 1903, it spawned a "hostile counter-prize" in the form of the

to counter the all-male Jury of the Goncourt with an all-female jury on the Femina. Some choices have been controversial, a famous example was

in 1919; it was met with indignation by the public since many believed that the prize should have gone to Roland Dorgelès for ''Les Croix de bois'', a novel about the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The prize was supposed to be awarded to promising young authors, whereas Proust was not considered "young" at 48 – however Proust was a beginning author which is the only eligibility requirement, age being unimportant. In 1921, Rene Maran won the Goncourt with '' Batouala, veritable roman negre'', the first French novel to openly criticize European colonialism in Africa. The novel caused "violent reactions" and was banned in all the French colonies. In 1932, the prize was controversial for passing up Louis-Ferdinand Céline's '' Voyage au bout de la nuit'' for Guy Mazeline's ''Les Loups''. The voting process became the basis of the 1992 book ''Goncourt 32'' by Eugène Saccomano. Although the award may only be given to an author once,

Romain Gary Romain Gary (; 2 December 1980), born Roman Kacew () and also known by the pen name Émile Ajar, was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War II aviator. He is the only author to have won the Prix Goncourt twice (once under a ps ...

won it twice, in 1956 for '' Les racines du ciel'' and again under the pseudonym Émile Ajar in 1975 for '' La vie devant soi''. The Académie Goncourt awarded the prize to Ajar without knowing his real identity. A period of literary intrigue followed. Gary's cousin's son Paul Pavlowitch posed as the author for a time. Gary later revealed the truth in his posthumous book ''Vie et mort d'Émile Ajar''. In September 2021, the Goncourt attracted controversy after the jury decided, by a vote of 7 to 3, to include ''Les enfants de Cadillac'' by François Noudelmann on its 2021 list of finalists. Noudelmann is the partner of Camille Laurens, who is a member of the prize's jury. Laurens voted in favor of her partner's book. In October 2021, the

ultimately decided that it will no longer allow lovers and family members of the jury to be entered for consideration.

Selection and voting process

The Prix Goncourt is divided into three selection stages. The first selection is typically composed of fifteen finalists. The second selection is typically composed of eight finalists, narrowed down from the previous fifteen. A third and final selection leaves four finalists. In the voting rounds, a maximum of fourteen rounds can be carried out. To begin the deliberation process, the names of the four finalists are placed in a champagne bucket. In turn, the names are taken out and each member of the jury votes aloud in favour of, or in opposition to, the writer. An absolute majority—more than half the votes cast—is required until the tenth round, then a simple majority is sufficient to designate a winner. If, after fourteen rounds, there is no winner, the president's vote counts as double to determine a majority vote. At 12:45p.m., the Secretary General, currently

Philippe Claudel Philippe Claudel (born 2 February 1962) 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. He directe ...

, appears in front of the crowd of journalists and announces the winner. The winner typically waits in a cafe near the ''Drouant'' so that they can arrive in time. The winner is interviewed by the media and is offered a symbolic check for ten euros.

Winners

Other awards

In addition to the Prix Goncourt for a novel, the Academy awards four other awards, for first novel, short story, biography and poetry. As of March 2009, the académie changed the award name by dropping "bourses" ("scholarship") from the title. The prefix "prix" can be included or not, such as "Prix Goncourt de la Poésie" (Goncourt prize for Poetry) or "Goncourt de la Poésie" (Goncourt of Poetry). For example: "Claude Vigée was awarded a Goncourt de la Poésie in 2008". Or, "Claude Vigée won the 2008 prix Goncourt de la Poésie". The award titles are: The winners are listed below.

Prix Goncourt de la Biographie

Goncourt Prize for biography. Awarded in partnership with the city of Nancy. The prize was renamed officially in 2017 the ''Prix Goncourt de la Biographie Edmonde Charles-Roux'', after a former president of the Goncourt Academy. *1980 – Jean Lacouture, ''François Mauriac'' *1981 – Hubert Juin, ''Victor Hugo'' *1982 – Pierre Sipriot, ''René Depestre'' *1983 – Ghislain de Diesbach, ''Madame de Staël'' *1984 – Jeanne Champion, ''Suzanne Valadon'' *1985 – Georges Poisson, ''Laclos ou l'Obstination'' *1986 –

Jean Canavaggio Jean Canavaggio (23 July 1936 – 21 August 2023) was a French biographer and emeritus professor of Spanish literature at the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense. Biography Born in Paris in 1936, he was a student of the École normale ...

, ''Cervantes'' *1987 – Michel Surya, ''Georges Bataille, la mort à l'œuvre'' *1988 – Frédéric Vitoux, ''La Vie de Louis-Ferdinand Céline'' *1989 – Joanna Richardson, ''Judith Gautier'' *1990 – Pierre Citron, ''Giono'' *1991 –

Odette Joyeux Odette Joyeux (5 December 1914 – 26 August 2000) was a French actress, playwright and novelist. Biography She was born in Paris, where she studied dance at the Paris Opera Ballet before taking the stage. Joyeux started her film career in 19 ...

, ''Le Troisième œil, la vie de Nicéphore Niepce'' *1992 – Philippe Beaussant, ''Lully'' *1993 – Jean Bothorel, ''Louise de Vilmorin'' *1994 – David Bellos, ''Georges Perec'' *1995 – Henry Gidel, ''Les Deux Guitry'' *1996 – Anka Muhlstein, ''Astolphe de Custine'' *1997 – Jean-Claude Lamy, ''Prévert, les frères'' *1998 – Christian Liger, ''Le Roman de Rossel'' *1999 – Claude Pichois and Alain Brunet, ''Colette'' *2000 – Dominique Bona, '' Berthe Morisot'' *2001 – Laure Murat, ''La maison du docteur Blanche'' *2002 – Jean-Paul Goujon, ''Une Vie Secrète (1870–1925)''; ''Mille lettres de Pierre Louÿs à Georges Louis (1890–1917)'' *2003 – Pierre Billard, ''Louis Malle'' *2004 – Claude Dufresne, ''Appelez-moi George Sand'' *2005 – Thibaut d'Anthonay, ''Jean Lorrain'' *2006 – Angie David, ''Dominique Aury'' *2007 – Patrice Locmant, ''Huysmans, le forçat de la vie'' *2008 – Jennifer Lesieur, ''Jack London'' *2009 – Viviane Forrester, ''Virginia Woolf'' *2010 –

Michel Winock Michel Winock (born 19 March 1937) is a French people, French historian, specializing in the history of the French Republic, intellectual movements, antisemitism, nationalism and the far right movements of France. He is a ''professeur des univers ...

, ''Madame de Stael'' *2011 – Maurizio Serra, '' Malaparte, vies et légendes'' *2012 – David Haziot, ''Le Roman des Rouart'' *2013 – Pascal Mérigeau, ''Jean Renoir'' *2014 – Jean Lebrun, ''Notre Chanel'' *2015 – Jean-Christophe Attias, ''Moïse fragile'' *2016 – Philippe Forest, ''Aragon'' *2017 – Marianne and Claude Schopp, ''Dumas fils ou l'Anti-Œdipe'' *2018 – Denis Demonpion, ''Salinger intime'' *2019 – Frédéric Pajak, ''Manifeste incertain, volume 7:

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

, Marina Tsvetaïeva, l'immense poésie'' *2021 – Pauline Dreyfous, ''Paul Morand'' *2022 – Jean-Pierre Langellier, ''Léopold Sédar Senghor'' *2023 – Claude Burgelin, ''Georges Perec'' *2024 – Geneviève Haroche-Bouzinac, ''Madame de Sévigné''

Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle

Goncourt Prize for short stories. Begun in 1974 in the form of scholarships. Awarded in partnership with the city of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

since 2001. *1974 –

Daniel Boulanger Daniel Boulanger (24 January 1922 – 27 October 2014) was a French novelist, playwright, poet and screenwriter. He has also played secondary roles in films and was a member of the Académie Goncourt from 1983 until his death. He was born in Comp ...

, ''Fouette, cocher !'' *1975 – S. Corinna Bille, ''La Demoiselle sauvage'' *1976 – Antoine Blondin, ''Quat'saisons'' *1977 – Henri Gougaud, ''Départements et territoires d'outre-mort'' *1978 – Christiane Baroche, ''Chambres, avec vue sur le passé'' *1979 – Andrée Chedid, ''Le Corps et le Temps'' *1980 – Guy Lagorce, ''Les Héroïques'' *1981 – Annie Saumont, ''Quelquefois dans les cérémonies'' *1982 – René Depestre, ''Alléluia pour une femme-jardin'' *1983 – Raymond Jean, ''Un fantasme de Bella B.'' *1984 – Alain Gerber, ''Les Jours de vin et de roses'' *1985 – Pierrette Fleutiaux, ''Métamorphoses de la reine'' *1986 – Jean Vautrin, ''Baby-boom'' *1987 – Noëlle Châtelet, ''Histoires de bouche'' *1988 – Jean-Louis Hue, ''Dernières Nouvelles du Père Noël'' *1989 – Paul Fournel, ''Les Athlètes dans leur tête'' *1990 – Jacques Bens, ''Nouvelles désenchantées'' *1991 – Rafaël Pividal, ''Le Goût de la catastrophe'' *1992 –

Catherine Lépront Catherine Lépront (June 1951, Le Creusot – 19 August 2012) was a French novelist, playwright, short story writer and essayist. Biography Catherine Lépront was born into a family of doctors and musicians. First of all a liberal nurse (an exp ...

, ''Trois gardiennes'' *1993 – Mariette Condroyer, ''Un après-midi plutôt gai'' *1994 – Jean-Christophe Duchon-Doris, ''Les Lettres du baron'' *1996 – Ludovic Janvier, ''En mémoire du lit'' *1997 – François Sureau, ''Le Sphinx de Darwin'' *1999 – Elvire de Brissac, ''Les anges d'en bas'' *2000 – Catherine Paysan, ''Les Désarmés'' *2001 –

Stéphane Denis Stéphane Denis (1949, St. Moritz) is a French journalist and writer. Biography After working in ministerial offices in the late 1970s, he first worked for ''Le Quotidien de Paris'', then for ''Paris Match'', ''Marianne (magazine), Marianne'' ...

, ''Elle a maigri pour le festival'' *2002 – Sébastien Lapaque, ''Mythologie Française'' *2003 –

, ''Les petites mécaniques'' *2004 – Olivier Adam, ''Passer l'hiver'' *2005 – Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, ''Singe savant tabassé par deux clowns'' *2006 – Franz Bartelt, ''Le Bar des habitudes'' *2007 – Brigitte Giraud, ''L'Amour est très surestimé'' *2008 – Jean-Yves Masson, ''Ultimes vérités sur la mort du nageur'' *2009 – Sylvain Tesson, ''Une vie à coucher dehors'' *2010 – Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, ''Concerto à la mémoire d'un ange'' *2011 –

Bernard Comment Bernard Comment (born 20 April 1960) is a Swiss writer, translator, scriptwriter, and publisher of books. Early life Bernard Comment was born in Porrentruy, Switzerland, on 20 April 1960. He is a son of the artist Jean-François Comment. His el ...

, ''Tout passe'' *2012 – Didier Daeninckx, ''L'Espoir en contrebande'' *2013 – Fouad Laroui, ''L'Étrange Affaire du pantalon de Dassoukine'' *2014 – Nicolas Cavaillès, ''Vie de monsieur Leguat'' *2015 – Patrice Franceschi, ''Première personne du singulier'' *2016 – Marie-Hélène Lafon, ''Histoires'' *2017 – Raphaël Haroche, ''Retourner à la mer'' *2018 – Régis Jauffret, ''Microfictions 2018'' *2019 –

Caroline Lamarche Caroline Lamarche (; born 3 March 1955) is a French-speaking writer. She was born in Liège and spent her early childhood in Spain and her later childhood near Paris. With a degree in Romance languages The Romance languages, also kno ...

, ''Nous sommes à la lisière'' *2020 – Anne Serre, ''Au cœur d'un été tout en or'' *2021 – Shmuel T. Meyer, ''Et la guerre est finie...'' *2022 – Antoine Wauters, ''Le museé des contradictions'' *2023 – David Thomas, ''Partout les autres'' *2024 – Véronique Ovaldé, ''À nos vies imparfaites''

Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman

Goncourt Prize for

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

. Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Paris. * 1990 – Hélène de Monferrand, ''Les amies d'Héloïse'' * 1991 – Armande Gobry-Valle, ''Iblis ou la défroque du serpent'' * 1992 – Nita Rousseau, ''Les iris bleus'' * 1993 – Bernard Chambaz, ''L'arbre de vies'' * 1994 – Bernard Lamarche-Vadel, ''Vétérinaires'' * 1995 – Florence Seyvos, ''Les apparitions'' * 1996 – Yann Moix, ''Jubilations vers le ciel'' * 1997 – Jean-Christophe Rufin, ''L'abyssin'' * 1998 – Shan Sa, ''Porte de la paix céleste'' * 1999 – Nicolas Michel, ''Un revenant'' * 2000 – Benjamin Berton, ''Sauvageons'' * 2001 – Salim Bachi, ''Le chien d'Ulysse'' * 2002 – Soazig Aaron, ''Le non-de Klara'' * 2003 – Claire Delannoy, ''La guerre, l'Amérique'' * 2004 – Françoise Dorner, ''La fille du rang derrière'' * 2005 – Alain Jaubert, ''Val Paradis'' * 2006 – Hédi Kaddour, ''Waltenberg'' * 2007 – Frédéric Brun, ''Perla'' * 2008 – Jakuta Alikavazovic, ''Corps volatils'' * 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, ''Une éducation libertine'' * 2010 – Laurent Binet, '' HHhH'' * 2011 – Michel Rostain, ''Le Fils'' * 2012 – François Garde, ''Ce qu'il advint du sauvage blanc'' * 2013 – Alexandre Postel, ''Un homme effacé'' * 2014 – Frédéric Verger, ''Arden'' * 2015 –

Kamel Daoud Kamel Daoud (; born June 17, 1970) is an Algerian writer and journalist. He currently edits the French-language daily '' Le quotidien d’Oran,'' for which he writes a popular column, "Raïna Raïkoum" (Our Opinion, Your Opinion). The column oft ...

, '' The Meursault Investigation'' * 2016 – Joseph Andras, '. Author declined the prize. * 2017 – Maryam Madjidi, ''Marx et la poupée'' * 2018 – Mahir Guven, ''Grand frère'' * 2019 – Marie Gauthier, ''Court vêtue'' * 2020 – Maylis Besserie, ''Le Tiers Temps'' * 2021 – Émilienne Malfatto, ''Que sur toi se lamente le Tigre'' * 2022 – Étienne Kern, ''Les envolés'' * 2023 – Pauline Peyarde, ''L'âge de détruire'' * 2024 – Eve Guerra, ''Rapatriement''

Prix Goncourt de la Poésie

Goncourt Prize for poetry. Established through the bequest of

Adrien Bertrand Adrien Bertrand (4 August 1888, Nyons – 18 November 1917) was a French novelist whose short career was punctuated by a series of striking surrealist anti-war novels, written as Bertrand lay dying from complications involved in a wound he suffer ...

(Prix Goncourt in 1914). The award is for the poet's entire career work. The prize was officially renamed in 2012 the ''Prix Goncourt de la Poésie Robert Sabatier'', after the poet. * 1985 – Claude Roy * 1986 – postponed to 1987 * 1987 –

Yves Bonnefoy Yves Jean Bonnefoy (24 June 1923, Tours – 1 July 2016, Paris) was a French poet and art historian. He also published a number of translations, most notably the plays of William Shakespeare which are considered among the best in French. He was a ...

* 1988 – Eugène Guillevic * 1989 – Alain Bosquet * 1990 – Charles Le Quintrec * 1991 – Jean-Claude Renard * 1992 – Georges-Emmanuel Clancier * 1993 – ''not awarded'' * 1994 – ''not awarded'' * 1995 – Lionel Ray * 1996 – André Velter * 1997 – Maurice Chappaz * 1998 – Lorand Gaspar * 1999 – Jacques Réda * 2000 – Liliane Wouters * 2001 – Claude Esteban * 2002 – Andrée Chedid * 2003 – Philippe Jaccottet * 2004 – Jacques Chessex * 2005 – Charles Dobzynski * 2006 – Alain Jouffroy * 2007 –

Marc Alyn Marc Alyn (Alain-Marc Fécherolle), (born 18 March 1937 in Reims) is a French poet. Life He was mobilized to Algeria in 1957. He lived far from Paris, a farmhouse in Uzès, Gard. He traveled in the Middle East to the ruins of the Phoenician ci ...

* 2008 – Claude Vigée * 2009 – Abdellatif Laabi * 2010 – Guy Goffette * 2011 – Vénus Khoury-Ghata * 2012 – Jean-Claude Pirotte * 2013 – Charles Juliet * 2014 – ''not awarded'' * 2015 – William Cliff * 2016 – Le Printemps des Poètes * 2017 – Franck Venaille * 2018 – Anise Koltz * 2019 – Yvon Le Men * 2020 – Michel Deguy * 2021 – Jacques Roubaud * 2022 – Jean-Michel Maulpoix * 2023 – Laura Vazquez * 2023 – Christian Bobin (special prize awarded posthumously) * 2024 – Louis-Philippe Dalembert

Bourse Goncourt Jeunesse

Goncrout Prize for children's literature. Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Fontvieille. Discontinued after 2007. *1999 – Claude Guillot and Fabienne Burckel, ''Le fantôme de Shanghai'' *2000 – Eric Battut, ''Rouge Matou'' *2002 – Fred Bernard and François Roca, ''Jeanne and le Mokélé'' and ''Jesus Betz'' *2003 – Yvan Pommaux, ''Avant la Télé'' *2004 – Jean Chalon and Martine Delerm, ''Un arbre dans la lune'' *2005 – Natali Fortier, ''Lili Plume'' *2006 – Bernard du Boucheron and Nicole Claveloux, ''Un roi, une princesse and une pieuvre'' *2007 – Véronique Ovaldé and Joëlle Jolivet, ''La très petite Zébuline''

Prix Goncourt des Lycéens

Notes and references

Notes References {{Authority control Goncourt Awards established in 1903 First book awards Short story awards Goncourt Biography awards 1903 establishments in France Children's literary awards