The Goncourt Prize, the most prestigious French-speaking literary prize, will be awarded this Monday, November 4, at 1 p.m., at the Drouant restaurant in Paris, as has been the tradition since the 1914 edition of the Goncourt.
The winner will receive a symbolic check for 10 euros but above all will be assured of unrivaled notoriety and promotion of their book in all bookstores.
This year, Kamel Daoud (Houris, at Gallimard), Gaël Faye (Jacarandaat Grasset), Sandrine Collette (Madelaine before dawnat JC Lattès) or Hélène Gaudy (Archipels chez l'Olivier) are engaged in the battle for the Prix Goncourt. But all eyes will be on the face-to-face between Kamel Daoud and Gaël Faye, two authors exploring the recent wounds of Algeria and the massacres of the “black decade” and the post-genocide in Rwanda.
A political choice
According to six literary journalists interviewed by Livres Hebdo, Kamel Daoud is the favorite. There are five to see him crowned, including one of them who suggests that two jurors “recently changed sides”, in favor of the Franco-Algerian author.
In the Parisian publishing world, we hear this same prognosis come up very often. “Kamel Daoud will have it, for reasons not literary, but political,” said an editor anonymously. Algeria's decision to ban Gallimard Editions from the Algiers International Book Fair, from November 6 to 16, could have worked in its favor.
The atypical and ideal profile of Gaël Faye
According to another editor, Gaël Faye would have “the profile of the ideal Goncourt”. Namely very popular, author of a bestseller adapted for cinema (Small country), and, which would be a first in a list dominated by bourgeois writers of a certain age, musician, singer and slammer.
The two authors of the last four, Sandrine Collette and Hélène Gaudy, are outsiders. “They can serve as a remedy if the jury cannot reach an agreement. Especially Sandrine Collette,” explains an editor.
A sales accelerator
Important fact: the last two finals went up to the maximum of 14 rounds, with five votes for one contender and five votes for the other. In this case, the voice of the president of the jury counts double, in this case Didier Decoin in 2022 and 2023. However, this president has changed.
Philippe Claudel, elected to this position in May, privately made it clear that he would do everything possible to avoid this scenario. He could push towards a negotiated solution if the first round were to give five votes to a contender and five votes to a rival.
Last year, the Goncourt Prize rewarded Jean-Baptiste Andrea for Watch over her (The Iconoclast). 627,180 copies were sold, half of which were between November and December, after the award was given, a sign of the strength of this award.
Gallimard's last Goncourt prize dates back to 2020, and Grasset's last in 2005, the longest drought for this house since the 1960s.
