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 |
[edit] History
| French literature |
| By category |
| French literary history |
| French 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Prix Goncourt
- 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] Prix Goncourt de la Biographie
Goncourt Prize for biography. Awarded in partnership with the city of Nancy.
- 1999 - Claude Pichois, 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, Madame de Stael
- 2011 - Maurizio Serra, Malaparte, vies et légendes
[edit] 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.
- 1974 - Daniel Boulanger, 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, 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, Elle a maigri pour le festival
- 2002 - Sébastien Lapaque, Mythologie Française
- 2003 - Philippe Claudel, Les petites mécaniques
- 2004 - Olivier Adam, Passer l'hiver
- 2005 - Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud, 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, Tout passe
[edit] Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman
Goncourt Prize for debut novel. 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
[edit] 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.
- 1985 - Claude Roy
- 1986 - Yves Bonnefoy
- 1987 -
- 1988 - Eugène Guillevic
- 1989 - Alain Bosquet
- 1990 - Charles Le Quintrec
- 1991 - Jean-Claude Renard
- 1992 - Georges-Emmanuel Clancier
- 1993 -
- 1994 -
- 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
- 2008 - Claude Vigée
- 2009 - Abdellatif Laabi
- 2010 - Guy Goffette
[edit] 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
[edit] See also
- Prix Renaudot - announced at the same ceremony as the Prix Goncourt, it has become something of a second-place prize.
- Prix Goncourt des Lycéens
- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française
- List of French literary awards
[edit] References
- ^ Monsieur des Lourdines at IMDB
- ^ 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).
- ^ Nène at IMDB
- ^ Raboliot at IMDB
- ^ Raboliot at IMDB
- ^ Raboliot at IMDB
- ^ Un homme se penche sur son passé at IMDB
- ^ Les amants de rivière rouge at IMDB
- ^ L'Ordre at IMDB
- ^ Les grandes familles at IMDB
- ^ Léon Morin, prêtre at IMDB
- ^ Les eaux mêlées at IMDB
- ^ Quand la mer se retire at IMDB
- ^ L'état sauvage at IMDB
- ^ The Margin at IMDB
- ^ Creezy] at IMDB
- ^ Translated by David Dugan. The Dirty Goat, issue 18, pg. 170.
- ^ The Cruel Embrace at IMDB
- ^ La Nuit sacrée at IMDB
- ^ One Way Ticket at IMDB
- ^ Sources used for checking translations: OpenLibrary.org, Amazon.com, LibraryThing.com
- ^ Source used for checking films: imdb.com
- ^ Autres prix décernés par l'Académie Goncourt
- ^ Les Goncourt surfent, Le Figaro, 29 January 2009
- ^ Autres prix décernés par l'Académie Goncourt: Lauréats
