Prix Goncourt

Prix Goncourt
Awarded for "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"
Presented by Académie Goncourt
Date November, annual
Country France
First awarded 1903
Official website academie-goncourt.fr

The Prix Goncourt (French: Le prix Goncourt, IPA: [lə pʁi ɡɔ̃kuʁ], The Goncourt Prize) is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". 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).

Contents

History

French literature
By category
French literary history
French writers

Chronological list
Writers by category
Novelists · Playwrights
Poets · Essayists
Short story writers
Portals
France · Literature

Edmond de Goncourt, a successful author, critic, and publisher, bequeathed his entire estate for the foundation and maintenance of the académie Goncourt. 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 to make its decision. The award, though nominal, ensures the winner celebrity status and a boost in sales. Notable winners of the prize include Marcel Proust, Jean Fayard, Simone de Beauvoir, Georges Duhamel, Alphonse de Châteaubriant, and Antonine Maillet.

In 1987, the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens was established, as a collaboration between the académie Goncourt, the French Ministry of Education, and Fnac, a book, music, and movie retailer.

The Prix Renaudot is announced at the same ceremony as the Prix Goncourt. It has become something of a second-place prize.

Controversies

Some decisions for awarding the prize have been controversial, the most famous case being the decision to award the prize in 1919 to Marcel Proust; this was met with indignation, since many in the public felt that the prize should have gone to Roland Dorgelès for Les Croix de bois, a novel about the First World War. The prize was supposed to be awarded to promising young authors, whereas Proust was 48 (Proust was a beginning author, though, which is the only eligibility requirement for the prize, age being unimportant); and, this was immediately after the end of the war, where Dorgelès had fought, whereas Proust had been deemed unfit for service for medical reasons (he had asthma).

The 1932 prize was controversial for passing up Céline, and 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 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.

Prix Goncourt

Prix Goncourt winners
French year Author French title English title English year Film title Film year Notes
1903 John Antoine Nau Force ennemie Enemy Force 2010
1904 Léon Frapié La Maternelle La Maternelle 1933
1905 Claude Farrère Les Civilisés
1906 Jérôme Tharaud Dingley, l'illustre écrivain
1907 Emile Moselly Le Rouet d'ivoire and Jean des Brebis ou le livre de la misère Pseudonym of Emile Chénin.
1908 Francis de Miomandre Ecrit sur l'eau
1909 Marius-Ary Leblond En France
1910 Louis Pergaud De Goupil à Margot
1911 Alphonse de Châteaubriant Monsieur des Lourdines Monsieur des Lourdines[1] 1943
1912 André Savignon Les Filles de la pluie
1913 Marc Elder Le peuple de la mer
1914 Adrien Bertrand L'Appel du Sol The Call of the Soil 1919 Awarded in 1916. See footnote.[2]
1915 René Benjamin Gaspard Private Gaspard 1916
1916 Henri Barbusse Le Feu Under Fire 1917 See footnote.[2]
1917 Henry Malherbe La Flamme au poing The Flame That Is France 1918
1918 Georges Duhamel Civilisation Civilization 1919
1919 Marcel Proust A l'ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs Within a Budding Grove 1920 Volume 2 of In Search of Lost Time
1920 Ernest Pérochon Nêne Nêne 1920 Nène[3] 1924
1921 René Maran Batouala Batouala 1921
1922 Henri Béraud Le vitriol de la lune and Le martyre de l'obèse
1923 Lucien Fabre Rabevel ou Le mal des ardents
1924 Thierry Sandre Le Chèvrefeuille, le Purgatoire, le Chapitre XIII
1925 Maurice Genevoix Raboliot Raboliot[4]
Raboliot[5]
Raboliot[6]		 1946
1972
2008
1926 Henri Deberly Le supplice de Phèdre The Peat-Cutters 1927
1927 Maurice Bedel Jérôme 60° latitude nord Jerome: or, The Latitude of Love 1928
1928 Maurice Constantin-Weyer Un Homme se penche sur son passé A Man Scans His Past 1929 Un homme se penche sur son passé[7]
Les amants de rivière rouge[8]		 1958
1996
1929 Marcel Arland L'Ordre L'Ordre[9] 1985
1930 H. Fauconnier Malaisie The Soul of Malaya or Malaisie 1931
1931 Jean Fayard Mal d'amour Desire 1931
1932 Guy Mazeline Les Loups The Wolves 1935
1933 André Malraux La Condition humaine Man's Fate 1934
1934 Roger Vercel Capitaine Conan Captain Conan 1935 Capitaine Conan 1996
1935 Joseph Peyre Sang et Lumières
1936 Maxence Van Der Meersch L'Empreinte de Dieu Hath Not the Potter 1937
1937 Charles Plisnier Faux passeports First foreigner to win Prix Goncourt.
1938 Henri Troyat L'Araigne
1939 Philippe Hériat Les enfants gâtés
1940 Francis Ambrière Les grandes vacances The Long Holiday 1948 Published and awarded in 1946 due to WWII.
Non-fiction memoir.
1941 Henri Pourrat Vent de Mars
1942 Marc Bernard Pareil à des enfants
1943 Marius Grout Passage de l'Homme When the Man Passed By 1962
1944 Elsa Triolet Le premier accroc coûte 200 Francs A Fine of Two Hundred Francs 1947
1945 Jean-Louis Bory Mon village à l'heure allemande
1946 Jean-Jacques Gautier Histoire d'un Fait divers
1947 Jean-Louis Curtis Les Forêts de la Nuit The Forests of the Night 1950
1948 Maurice Druon Les grandes familles Les grandes familles[10] 1989
1949 Robert Merle Week-end à Zuydcoote Week-end at Zuydcoote 1950 Weekend at Dunkirk 1964
1950 Paul Colin Les jeux sauvages
1951 Julien Gracq Le Rivage des Syrtes The Opposing Shore 1986 Refused prize.
1952 Béatrix Beck Léon Morin, prêtre The Priest (UK), The Passionate Heart (US) 1953 Léon Morin, Priest
Léon Morin, prêtre[11]		 1961
1991
1953 Pierre Gascar Les Bêtes
1954 Simone de Beauvoir Les Mandarins The Mandarins 1957
1955 Roger Ikor Les eaux mêlées Les eaux mêlées[12] 1969
1956 Romain Gary Les racines du ciel The Roots of Heaven 1957 The Roots of Heaven 1958
1957 Roger Vailland La Loi The Law 1958 The Law 1959
1958 Francis Walder Saint-Germain ou la négociation
1959 André Schwarz-Bart Le dernier des Justes The Last of the Just 1960
1960 Vintilă Horia Dieu est né en exil God Was Born in Exile 1961
1961 Jean Cau La pitié de Dieu
1962 Anna Langfus Les bagages de sable
1963 Armand Lanoux Quand la mer se retire Quand la mer se retire[13] 1963
1964 Georges Conchon L'Etat sauvage L'état sauvage[14] 1978
1965 Jacques Borel L'Adoration
1966 Edmonde Charles-Roux Oublier Palerme To Forget Palermo 1968 Dimenticare Palermo 1990
1967 André Pieyre de Mandiargues La Marge The Margin 1970 The Margin[15] 1976
1968 Bernard Clavel Les fruits de l'hiver The Fruits of Winter 1969 Creezy[16] 1974
1969 Félicien Marceau Creezy
1970 Michel Tournier Le Roi des Aulnes The Erl-King (UK) or The Ogre (US) 1972 The Ogre 1996
1971 Jacques Laurent Les Bêtises
1972 Jean Carrière L'Epervier de Maheux
1973 Jacques Chessex L'Ogre A Father's Love 1975
1974 Pascal Lainé La Dentellière A Web of Lace (1976) or The Lacemaker(?) (2008(?))[17] 1976 The Lacemaker 1977
1975 Emile Ajar (Romain Gary) La vie devant soi Momo (1978) or The Life Before Us (1986) 1978 Madame Rosa 1977
1976 Patrick Grainville Les Flamboyants
1977 Didier Decoin John l'enfer
1978 Patrick Modiano Rue des boutiques obscures Missing Person 1980
1979 Antonine Maillet Pélagie la Charette Pélagie: The Return to Acadie 1982
1980 Yves Navarre Le Jardin d'acclimatation
1981 Lucien Bodard Anne Marie
1982 Dominique Fernandez Dans la main de l'Ange
1983 Frédérick Tristan Les égarés The Lost Ones 1991
1984 Marguerite Duras L'Amant The Lover 1986 The Lover 1992
1985 Yann Queffélec Les Noces barbares The Wedding 1987 The Cruel Embrace[18] 1987
1986 Michel Host Valet de nuit
1987 Tahar Ben Jelloun La Nuit sacrée The Sacred Night 1989 La Nuit sacrée[19] 1993
1988 Érik Orsenna L'Exposition coloniale
1989 Jean Vautrin Un grand pas vers le Bon Dieu
1990 Jean Rouaud Les Champs d'honneur Fields of Glory 1992
1991 Pierre Combescot Les Filles du Calvaire
1992 Patrick Chamoiseau Texaco Texaco 1998
1993 Amin Maalouf Le Rocher de Tanios The Rock of Tanios 1994
1994 Didier Van Cauwelaert Un Aller simple One-Way 2003 One Way Ticket[20] 2001
1995 Andreï Makine Le Testament français Dreams of My Russian Summers 1998
1996 Pascale Roze Le Chasseur Zéro
1997 Patrick Rambaud La Bataille The Battle 2000
1998 Paule Constant Confidence pour confidence
1999 Jean Echenoz Je m'en vais I'm Gone (US) or I'm Off (UK) 2001
2000 Jean-Jacques Schuhl Ingrid Caven Ingrid Caven 2004
2001 Jean-Christophe Rufin Rouge Brésil Brazil Red 2004
2002 Pascal Quignard Les Ombres errantes The Roving Shadows 2011
2003 Jacques-Pierre Amette La maîtresse de Brecht Brecht's Lover (US) or Brecht's Mistress (UK) 2005
2004 Laurent Gaudé Le Soleil des Scorta The House of Scorta (US 2006) The Scortas' Sun (UK 2007) 2006
2005 François Weyergans Trois jours chez ma mère
2006 Jonathan Littell Les Bienveillantes The Kindly Ones 2009
2007 Gilles Leroy Alabama song
2008 Atiq Rahimi Syngué Sabour: La pierre de patience Stone of Patience (UK) or The Patience Stone (US) 2010
2009 Marie NDiaye Trois femmes puissantes Three Strong Women 2012
2010 Michel Houellebecq La Carte et le territoire The Map and the Territory 2012
2011 Alexis Jenni L'Art Francais De La Guerre
Notes
  • Translations full audit: March 2009[21]
  • Films full audit: February 2011[22]
  • Translation date is of first translation, later ones may be available.
  • Website of the Academie Goncourt with list of past 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.[23][24] 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:

Pre-2009 award name Post-2009 award name Category
Bourse Goncourt de la Biographie Prix Goncourt de la Biographie Biography
Bourse Goncourt de la Nouvelle Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle Short story
Bourse Goncourt du Premier Roman Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman Debut novel
Bourse Goncourt de la Poésie Prix Goncourt de la Poésie Poetry
Bourse Goncourt Jeunesse discontinued Juvenile

The winners are listed below.[25]

Prix Goncourt de la Biographie

Goncourt Prize for biography. Awarded in partnership with the city of Nancy.

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 since 2001.

Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman

Goncourt Prize for debut novel. Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Paris.

Prix Goncourt de la Poésie

Goncourt Prize for poetry. Established through the bequest of Adrien Bertrand (Prix Goncourt in 1914). The award is for the poet's entire career work.

Bourse Goncourt Jeunesse

Goncrout Prize for children's literature. Awarded in partnership with the municipality of Fontvieille. Discontinued after 2007.

See also

References

  1. ^ Monsieur des Lourdines at IMDB
  2. ^ a b No award was given in 1914 due to the war. In 1916 two awards were given, one for 1916 (Barbusse) and one for 1914 (Bertrand).
  3. ^ Nène at IMDB
  4. ^ Raboliot at IMDB
  5. ^ Raboliot at IMDB
  6. ^ Raboliot at IMDB
  7. ^ Un homme se penche sur son passé at IMDB
  8. ^ Les amants de rivière rouge at IMDB
  9. ^ L'Ordre at IMDB
  10. ^ Les grandes familles at IMDB
  11. ^ Léon Morin, prêtre at IMDB
  12. ^ Les eaux mêlées at IMDB
  13. ^ Quand la mer se retire at IMDB
  14. ^ L'état sauvage at IMDB
  15. ^ The Margin at IMDB
  16. ^ Creezy] at IMDB
  17. ^ Translated by David Dugan. The Dirty Goat, issue 18, pg. 170.
  18. ^ The Cruel Embrace at IMDB
  19. ^ La Nuit sacrée at IMDB
  20. ^ One Way Ticket at IMDB
  21. ^ Sources used for checking translations: OpenLibrary.org, Amazon.com, LibraryThing.com
  22. ^ Source used for checking films: imdb.com
  23. ^ Autres prix décernés par l'Académie Goncourt
  24. ^ Les Goncourt surfent, Le Figaro, 29 January 2009
  25. ^ Autres prix décernés par l'Académie Goncourt: Lauréats