It is done ! All the second lists of the autumn grand prix have fallen, the noose is tightening. And the tension rises. Next week, while the Goncourt jury will deliver its 3rd and final list live from Beirut on Tuesday, October 25, the French academicians will announce their winner of the Grand Prix du Roman on Thursday, October 27, one day after the December award ceremony (with 15 000 euros!) which therefore leads the dance this year with a ceremony which will take place at the Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint-Laurent. open the ball, followed on the 7th by the Ladies of Femina, on the 8th by the Medici jury, and on the 10th by the Interallié and the jury of the Prix de Flore. Finally, on November 24 at 1 p.m., the Goncourt prize for high school students will be announced at Rennes City Hall (the 15 authors on the first list of jurors from Drouant compete for this one).
Among the 345 Francophones in smooth this autumn, there are about 35 who can still consider being distinguished (excluding the authors of the Goncourt high school students). Thirty-five authors who tremble, therefore, at the idea of finally racking up sales – very few of them, in fact, are present in our lists of bestsellers, with the exception of Giuliano da Empoli and Lola Lafon. Before assessing the chances of such or such, let’s take a quick look at their publishers: of the 20 publishing houses publishing these 35 selected, Gallimard pays the lion’s share with eight authors, followed by Flammarion and Grasset (four authors each), Albin Michel, du Seuil, Rivages, POL and Stock (two each), the remaining 12 houses sharing the other novelists.
As for the writers, they are five to still appear on three lists. Starting with the French-speaking Italian Giuliano da Empoli, whose novel, Le Mage du Kremlin (Gallimard), was released on… April 14, which is to say that Gallimard, his publisher, had not at all expected that this this is found in this return to the selections of Goncourt, the French Academy and the Interallié. We whisper that da Empoli would be on track to pocket the Quai Conti Academicians’ Grand Prize for the Novel, which would a priori take away all hope from the Goncourts… Second author to win three selections (Goncourt, Femina, December), Brigitte Giraud, the author of Vivre vite (Flammarion). A nice surprise for this novelist who has written many books since 1997. Another super-selected (Goncourt, Académie française, Interallié) and even more surprising distinction, the journalist and legal columnist, Pascale Robert-Dinard, for her first novel La Petite Menteuse (L ‘Iconoclast).
Two other women close the march of the five: Monica Sabolo, with La Vie clandestine (Gallimard), present on the lists of Goncourt, Renaudot and Interallié, and Claudie Hunziger, for A dog at my table (Grasset), selected by Renaudot, Femina and Medici. Too early to show off however _ we have seen, in previous years, super favorites of the juries and the media finishing without a medal.
We also talk a lot about Grégoire Bouillier (The heart does not yield, Flammarion) and Nathan Devers (Artificial links), The first, present on the lists of Goncourt and Femina, should remain on the 3rd list of the jury at Drouant . Just like Nathan Devers, young colt from the Albin Michel stable, also noticed by the Renaudots, and who, it is said, makes a big impression on the high school students of the appropriate Goncourt _ likewise, Sabyl Ghoussoub (Beyrouth-sur-Seine, Stock ) he has the good fortune to appeal to young high school students. Finally, Sibylle Grimbert, noticed by the juries of Renaudot and Femina, is also very present in this return to school 2022 with The Last of his, published by Anne Carrière.
Finally, it should be noted that of the first 90 novels published between August 15 and the beginning of September (and therefore selectable), only 7 caught the attention of the juries. Take La Petite Menteuse by Pascale Robert-Diard, already quoted; His favorite, by Sarah Jollien-Fardel (Sabine Wespieser), competing for the Goncourt prize for high school students; Hold your tongue, by Polina Panassenko (L’Olivier), adopted by Femina; Those who remain, by Jean Michelin (Héloïse d’Ormesson), in the final list of the French Academy; Two Seconds of Burning Air (Seuil), by Diaty Diallo, selected by the Medici; Les Enfants endormis (Globe, already winner of the Première Plume prize) by Anthony Passeron, in the running for Flore and, L’Inclinaison by Corentin Durand (Gallimard), noticed by the jury for the December prize.
So who will succeed Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, winner of the Goncourt 2021 for La Mémoire des hommes, published by Philippe Rey (and sold 480,000 copies at the very least), Amélie Nothomb, Renaudot 2021 with Premier Sang (Albin Michel, 270,000 copies passed), to Clara Dupont-Monod, happy recipient of the Femina 2021 and the Goncourt des lycéens for Adapting (Stock, 240,000 copies), to the author of My master and my winner (Gallimard, 35,000 copies), François -Henri Désérable, grand prize for the novel of the Academy, to the winner of the Medici, Christine Angot, for Le voyage dans l’Est (Flammarion, 46,000 copies). to the winner of the Interallié prize, Mathieu Palain for his novel Do not stop running (L’Iconoclaste, 30,000 copies), to the December prize winner, Xavier Galmiche, for Le Poullailler metaphysique (Le Pommier, 2,200 copies sold, but 15,000 euros in prize money), or to Abel Quentin, Prix de Flore for Le Voyant d’Étampes (Éditions de L’Observatoire, 36,000 copies)? Figures that make authors and publishers dream when, after an exceptional year 2021, the book market has been seriously skating for a few months.
The bets remain open, and publishers can continue to remember the good memories of the members of the juries. But the clock is ticking.
