Brigitte Giraud, 56, on Thursday won the Goncourt Prize, France’s top literary award for her book ‘Vivre Vite’ (Live Fast).
Giraud’s book recounts the chain of events that led to the death of her husband in a motorbike accident in 1999. Giraud was tipped by bookies as second favourite to win the prize.
She is the first female author to win the most prestigious French-language literary prize since Leïla Slimani’s “Chanson douce” in 2016, and the 13th woman to win since the Goncourt was created 120 years ago.
Giuliano da Empoli, 49, had been tipped to win for his book, ‘Le mage du Kremlin’ (The Kremlin’s sorcerer), his account of the last 30 years in Russia, and in particular of President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
His book has sold nearly 100,000 copies since being published just over six months ago and won the ‘Grand Prix du Roman’, which ranks alongside the Goncourt as one of France’s oldest and most prestigious prizes, earlier this year.
It was the second year in a row that a Haitian novelist made it to the final list for the prestigious prize. Louis-Philippe Dalembert was shortlisted in 2021 for his book ‘Milwaukee Blues’. This year, Makenzy Orcel, 39, was nominated for ‘Une Somme Humaine’, a monologue from beyond the grave by a young Frenchwoman.
The final contender for the prize was Cloé Korman, whose novel on child victims of the Shoah, ‘Les Presque Soeurs’ (The Almost Sisters), drew controversy in recent weeks.
Three of the Holocaust survivors on whose testimony Korman, 38, drew for her novel said they did not realise their stories were going to be used in Korman’s work, adding that the book contains inaccuracies and indiscretions about their lives.
The Goncourt Prize guarantees hundreds of thousands of sales for the winning book. The award also comes with a €10 cheque, which the recipients prefer to frame rather than deposit in the bank.
