News
On Monday, the académie Goncourt awarded the first literary prizes for 2020, six months earlier than usual. This is to support booksellers, who have found themselves in crisis due to the coronavirus epidemic.
The Prix Goncourt for the first novel was awarded to journalist and radio producer Maylis Besserie for her novel Le tiers temps (“The Third Time”) about the last days of life of Irish playwright and writer Samuel Beckett. The book, published in February by the Gallimard publishing house, describes the time spent by Beckett in the Parisian retirement home "Le tiers-temps".
The Prix Goncourt for the short story was awarded to writer Anne Serre for her collection entitled Au coeur d'un été tout en or (“In the Heart of the Golden Summer”), which is due to be released on the market on 28th May.
Thierry Thomas was awarded the Prix Goncourt for the biography for his book entitled Hugo Pratt, trait pour trait. (“Hugo Pratt, Trait by Trait”) about the life of Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt, author of a series of comic books about the troublemaking sailor Corto Maltese.
The Prix Goncourt for poetry was awarded to Michel Deguy for lifetime achievement.
Awarded since 1903, the main Prix Goncourt for prose (usually a novel) - not yet awarded this year - is the most prestigious literary award in France, although its material value is only symbolic. However, the reputation of the award makes it possible for the winner to count on selling up to 400 thousand copies of their books.
Since 1988, the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens has been awarded by French high school students. Since 1998, the Polish Prix Goncourt - La Liste Goncourt-le choix polonais - has been awarded by a jury composed of Romance philology students from all over Poland.
[source: Katarzyna Stańko]