In the running for the autumn grand prizes, the policeman on standby, has just been recognized for his novel Winter Warriors (Michel Lafon).
He was in the running for the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes. It still is for the Interallié, which will be revealed on November 13, and the Goncourt for high school students, awarded on November 28. But this Thursday, November 7, Olivier Norek was awarded the beautiful Jean Giono 2024 prize for Winter Warriors (published by Michel Lafon). He faced formidable competitors who obtained votes: Camille Pascal, The Queen of the Labyrinth (Robert Laffont) and Abel Quentin, Hut (The Observatory).
Remember that this literary award is sponsored by the Jean Michalski Foundation. The winner will receive a check for 10,000 euros. Olivier Norek succeeds Gaspard Koenig, author of Humus (The Observatory). The Jean Giono Prize jury is made up of two jurors from the Goncourt academy: Paule Constant, president, and Tahar Ben Jelloun; and a member of the Renaudot jury: Franz Olivier Giesbert. They are accompanied by Vera Michalski, David Foenkinos, Robert Kopp, Emmanuelle Lambert, Étienne de Montety (director of Figaro littéraire), Marianne Payot, and Sylvie Giono, the daughter of Jean Giono, who is the soul of this prize.
Le Figaro quickly noticed Winter Warriors among the essential novels of the literary season. A story « amazing and gripping »in the words of Bruno Corty in our August 28 edition. Norek, an on-call police officer, was used to writing thrillers. With this new novel, he took a step aside by diving into History: « In Winter Warriorsthe author of Code 93, In the Mist of Capelans, recounts a little-known episode of the Second World War. The invasion of Finland by its Russian neighbor in November 1939. For Stalin, a major challenge : do not let the powerful German army arrive at the gates of the Nordic countries. In his eyes, invading Finland, this small country which has only known independence since 1917, will be child’s play. The disproportion between the two armies in number of men and equipment is laughable. » But the Russian army will come across a bone: Simo Häyhä, a little guy but a hell of a sniper, defeating one of the largest armies in the world against a very small country.
The novel achieves the feat of pleasing readers – it is one of the best sellers – and the jurors of the major literary prizes. A victory in its own way, consecrated by this Jean Giono prize.
Belgium
