The Goncourt for high school students, a prize like no other

« CThe award changed my life. » When we talk with Sorj Chalandon about the Goncourt prize for high school students, which he won in 2013 for The Fourth Wallhe hides neither his emotion nor his gratitude. When he learned that his novel had been chosen by the high school students who form the jury, he was sitting on a bench in a square. He points out that it was raining, which covered up the tears streaming down his face. “I called them and told them what I always say: this prize is pure crystal, without the slightest roughness. »

The word “pure” also comes up in the mouth of Estelle Flavet, director of cultural action at Fnac, who organizes the prize, notably offering the books to all high school students and organizing the authors’ tour, in partnership with the ministry. of National Education and in agreement with the Académie Goncourt. “The price is pure, spontaneous, surprising. Something strong is happening around him, he generates powerful emotions,” says the woman who has managed the organization of the Goncourt prize for high school students for a dozen years.

Launched in 1988 by a literature teacher and a bookseller from Fnac in Rennes, it operates according to a simple principle: 2,000 high school students from all over France are invited to read the selection and choose their favorite. Awarded, the year of its launch, to Erik Orsenna for The Colonial Exhibition (Seuil), it has since rewarded a multitude of great names in French literature, such as Laurent Gaudé, Philippe Claudel, Catherine Cusset, Delphine de Vigan…

The explosion Gaël Faye

“The Goncourt prize for high school students quickly attracted people and quickly gained momentum, but it was in 2016, when young people rewarded Gaël Faye, that it took on its full scope,” explains Estelle Flavet. The sales of Gaël Faye, who published his first novel, Small Countryon the Rwandan genocide, were stratospheric after his coronation, the enthusiasm of young people bordering on activism: “ Small Country appealed for its literary quality, of course, but also for its societal aspect, continued Estelle Flavet. Since then, this type of subject is more present in the desire of young people, they want to experience this prize as a commitment. »

Sorj Chalandon remembers: “ The Fourth Wall is a very harsh book, dedicated to the massacre of Sabra and Chatila. During a meeting with the young people, I explained to them that I had been one of the first to enter the camps, where the massacres had not even ended yet. I told them that everything was dead: men, women, children, babies, dogs and cats. I told them that I had never felt so alone in my life. During the questions, a young man stands up and says to me this sentence which accompanies me all the time: “You were not alone, we were with you in the camps.” »

Seduction operation

Tell the novelists that you have to make all the dates. Young people hate it when we don’t travel.Sorj Chalandon

The Goncourt prize for high school students is awarded each year at the end of November, at the end of a marathon led by the authors in ten cities in France, among classes of high school students selected to vote (the prize invites general high schools , professionals and BTS). “If, in your article, you give advice to novelists, tell them that you have to make all the dates,” warned Sorj Chalandon. Young people hate it when we don’t travel: if we don’t, they won’t read. But above all you have to go there to hear their questions, which are unlike any other. They are real, curious, honest. They ask questions that we keep with us when writing future novels. »

“For several years, with the rise in prices, all authors have been moving,” continues Estelle Flavet. These are very strong moments, the authors form friendships that they would not have at other events, at back-to-school festivals. As for young people, they are demanding, fiery. It is a school for writers who face them. »

A major issue

To discover

Kangaroo of the day

Answer

Aware of the issues, anxious to seduce this intractable young audience, the candidates for the Goncourt prize for high school students know that they have the possibility of obtaining a prize different from the others, which is neither interested in trends, nor in influences, nor in publishing houses, but simply to the effect produced by reading and to the charisma of those who write.

With, as a result, the opportunity to forever change his destiny as a writer: “The Goncourt effect of high school students is a rejuvenation of the readership, which suddenly loses all its white hair. Some young people who voted for The Fourth Wallor who read it after the price has followed me faithfully for more than ten years. The stakes are high,” concludes Sorj Chalandon. So, who, among the five finalists – Olivier Norek, Sandrine Collette, Abdellah Taïa… – (out of 14 authors competing this year) will win this year? Response on Thursday, at midday, at the end of the final deliberation of the high school students, which will take place in Rennes, where it all began…