“Fascinating, lots of emotion, extremely happy”, the selected authors eager to meet the students

On Monday, in Toulouse, students will be able to debate with the authors selected for the Goncourt prize for high school students. Three of them, Ruben Barrouk, Jean-Noël Orengo and Etienne Kern talk about what they expect from this meeting.

The Goncourt High School Students Prize allows nearly 2,000 high school students, from 53 high schools in France and 3 French high schools internationally (Jordan, Canada and the United States) to immerse themselves in passionate reading and make their voices heard for elect their winner, among the 14 authors of the selection.

For over two months, they will read and study all the works. To nourish their reflection, they have the opportunity to exchange and debate face-to-face with the authors competing during meetings organized by Fnac, between October 7 and 17 in 6 cities in France, starting with Toulouse this Monday.

Ruben Barrouk, Jean-Noël Orengo and Etienne Kern, three of the selected authors talk about what they expect from this meeting.

Ruben Barrouk: “A rather fascinating encounter”

Ruben Barrouk, 27, is the youngest contender for Goncourt. In “All the noise of Guéliz” (Editions Albin Michel), his first novel, he tells the story of his grandmother, Paulette, one of the last representatives of the Jewish community of Marrakech. The author has not set foot there for ten years and he returns there with his mother because Paulette is worried, she hears a noise. “This noise ruins his nights, his days, his life and yet it is the sound of peace, a noise that wants us to listen to it.,” explains Ruben Barrouk.

A necessary call for union between peoples. Like a resistance to oblivion, at this time of peaceful cohabitation between Jews and Muslims 60 years ago. Then Israel bombed Egypt and almost all the Jews left Morocco, except Paulette. “Nothing has succeeded peace in Morocco. Only emptiness, not war.”

But this ode to peace, to fraternity, resonates implacably in the face of current events in the Middle East. “JI wrote this book before October 7th. It is a call for peace. A Hebrew word says: “remember that all this was once possible.” Today, however, peace seems extremely distant to us.”

I wrote a book about peace hoping that it would reach the hands of those who still believe in it.

In Toulouse, Ruben Barrouk will meet a delegation of high school students. “For me, it’s a pretty fascinating encounter. It’s a lot of emotion. I want to tell them about my grandmother and for them to tell me about their grandmother. Many things are transmitted through words, gestures, traditions. It’s a great legacy.

Then I would talk to them about history and peace. I would like them to understand that peace existed and that it is also up to them, unfortunately and I am sorry for them, to accept at one point that this world was confiscated from us by violence and that they have within themselves the keys to carry the message, that of choosing this peace that I try to bring into their hands.”

Jean-Noël Orengo: “Always maintain critical thinking”

In “You are the unhappy love of the Führer”, (Editions Grasset), Jean-Noël Orengo evokes one of the greatest lies in History. Hitler’s favorite architect and Reich Minister of Armaments and Production, “Albert Speer survived the war and in a way it can be said that he survived his own history where he should have disappeared several times.”

Sentenced to 20 years of detention for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the end of the Second World War, he became a star of historians and the media upon his release from prison, an incomparable object of study in the eyes of the world. “He provoked the compassion of many people, some of whom were victims of the National Socialist regime..”

Throughout the pages, the reader feels a sense of unease. How did this man become a star?

“He is a man who wrote the novel about himself through his memoirs, an autofiction. He still lied at Nuremberg, claiming he didn’t know about the Final Solution. He was a man of prodigious ambiguity“.

Albert Speer is a very current character. “Where does fake news begin and end? All this destabilization of the notion of truth. We are the ones who make these people, who give them credit. We can come across a liar whose argument has all the appearance of truth, but also of moral conflict and this is the case of Speer,” explains the author.

“Today I see how you can become a star with thousands of followers, you need your likes, you put yourself out there. You build a character for yourself. Speer anticipated all that.”

You must constantly question yourself. The question mark is a fascinating thing. The answers are always provisional, they are never definitive. You have to keep a critical mind and stay free.

What does Jean-Noël Orengo expect from his meeting with the high school students?

“I don’t want to anticipate but these are questions that fascinate them because it’s a generation that was born with this. I feel a lot of hope. I think that young people are much less subject to these things. I am very impatient and I hope to live up to this appointment with them.

I will alert them to the fact of always maintaining a critical mind, of constantly questioning themselves. The question mark is a fascinating thing. The answers are always provisional, they are never definitive. We must remain free.”

Etienne Kern, from juror to author at Goncourt for high school students

A singular destiny than that of Émile Coué, an obscure French pharmacist in Troyes who became a world celebrity, alternately adored and mocked. “The better life” by Etienne Kern (Editions Gallimard) traces the story of this precursor of personal development who, at the start of the 20th century, thought he had discovered the keys to health and happiness.

” There is a man behind the Coué method. I ignored for a long time that it was a proper name, this strange word: Coué. The story of this Emile and I felt tenderness for his generous, altruistic approach to helping us get better.

Ultimately, the story of Emile Coué is that of a man who tries to do something to relieve all the distress of his fellow human beings.,” explains Etienne Kern.

His method, autosuggestion which can contribute to healing: “ we must think of ourselves as better than we are.” Emile Coué is a teacher of optimism. His method? “A joy that we invent.“The famous mantra: “I’m fine, everything is fine.”

Followers flocked, he toured the world, made the front page of the New York Times when he arrived in the United States in 1926. He wrote successful books. This does not prevent the doubts, the wounds: his father calls him a charlatan, he will not have a child with his beloved wife.

Optimism requires a lot of courage in today’s world.

” Optimism requires a lot of courage in today’s world. You have to be courageous to manage to stay cheerful when things go wrong. This is a bit what Emile Coué was trying to teach us to do and I am convinced that this is the role of books.

I am sure that high school students will gain a lot from this Goncourt adventure, from these high-dose readings, from these debates, from this passion around books, it can accompany them towards a kind of joy and I believe that this is the most precious thing.“

Monday, the meeting with the high school students will bring back very good memories. “I am extremely happy. 25 years ago, when I myself was in 1ère, in Strasbourg, my class took part in the Goncourt of high school students. My French teacher encouraged us to send a letter to the authors of the selection.

At the time, I loved a book: “The Demand” by Michèle Desbordes. I wrote to her and she replied. I went to her house several times and she encouraged me to write. These encouraging words were truly liberating.

When you are a literature professor like me, you feel even more illegitimate to write. We have an even stronger imposture syndrome because we spend our time with real books. Why add new ones?

My meeting with Michèle Desbordes, I owe it to the Goncourt high school students. It’s something symbolic, magical. For me, it’s very strong.”

The 14 novels selected for the 2024 Goncourt prize for high school students:

Ruben BARROUK, All the noise of Guéliz (Albin Michel)
Thomas CLERC, Paris Museum of the 21st century (Les éditions de Minuit)
Sandrine COLLETTE, Madelaine before dawn (JC Lattès)
Kamel DAOUD, Houris (Gallimard)
Hélène GAUDY, Archipels (L’Olivier)
Philippe JAENADA, Casualness is a very beautiful thing (Mialet-Barrault)
Maylis de KERANGAL, Day of surf (Verticals)
Étienne KERN, The Better Life (Gallimard)
Emmanuelle LAMBERT, No respect (Stock)
Rebecca LIGHIERI, The Lost Children’s Club (POL)
Thibault de MONTAIGU, Heart (Albin Michel)
Olivier NOREK, The Winter Warriors (Michel Lafon)
Jean-Noël ORENGO, “You are the unhappy love of the Führer” (Grasset)
Abdellah TAÏA, The Bastion of Tears (Julliard)

The winner will be chosen on November 28.