2023-11-07 13:49:09
The oldest and most prestigious literary prize in France was awarded this Tuesday to Jean-Baptiste Andrea for Veiller sur elle.
The 2023 Goncourt Prize was awarded this Tuesday to Jean-Baptiste Andrea for Veiller sur elle. He succeeds Brigitte Giraud, recipient of the prize in 2021 for Vivre vite.
Coming to literature late, at the age of 46, the writer from the cinema world tells with Veiller sur elle a love story in fascist Italy, between a patrician and a plebeian, both of whom love art.
Already awarded the Fnac prize, this 500-page work is published by an independent house, L’Iconoclaste. This is the fourth novel by the writer, already crowned, among others, by the Femina des lycéens in 2017 for his first book, My Queen.
In the cinema, Jean-Baptiste Andrea has distinguished himself in particular as a screenwriter with Hellphone by James Huth (2007) or King by David Moreau (2022) but also as a director on Big Nothing (2006) with David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg and La Brotherhood of Tears (2013) with Jérémie Renier and Audrey Fleurot.
The Goncourt was presented, as tradition dictates, at lunchtime at the Drouant restaurant, in the Opéra district of Paris. Four authors were finalists: Éric Reinhardt with Sarah, Susanne and the writer, Jean-Baptiste Andrea with Veiller sur elle, Gaspard Koenig with Humus and Neige Sinno with Triste tigre.
But the French novelist actually had little chance of winning the most prestigious literary prize since Sad Tiger, a story of incest and an essay on sexual violence already won the Femina on Monday. However, this prize was created in 1904 in reaction to the misogyny of Goncourt, and Goncourt wants to systematically distance itself from it.
Although it only brings the winner a check for 10 euros, the Goncourt is the consecration of a writing career, a trophy coveted by many novelists. It is also the assurance of considerable sales: on average, since the beginning of the century, around 400,000 copies.
As tradition dictates, the Renaudot prize is awarded just after the Goncourt, in the same restaurant in the Opéra district of Paris. There are five finalists for the novel: Sorj Chalandon (L’Enragé), Lilia Hassaine (Panorama), Alexis Salatko (Jules et Joe), Ann Scott (Les Insolents) and Gaspard Koenig (Humus).
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