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Writer Hervé Le Tellier
Photo: AFP
The academy met virtually, the decision was made at a Zoom conference, not as usual at a meal in the Drouant restaurant in Paris: The 2020 Prix Goncourt goes to the writer Hervé Le Tellier for his novel "L'anomalie".
Various French media report this unanimously.
Perhaps fittingly in a year marked by a pandemic with many deaths, the Académie Goncourt awarded the most important French literature prize to a book that depicts an apocalyptic scenario.
The focus is on the passengers on a flight from Paris to New York in June 2021. The newspaper »Le Monde« recognizes elements of thriller and science fiction in the novel, with a build-up of tension that is reminiscent of TV series.
"L'anomalie" is already high on the French bestseller list - although the local bookstores have so far benefited less than usual because of the corona measures in the country.
According to the industry service "Livres Hebdo", a film version of the novel is already being planned - as a series.
Hervé Le Tellier, born in Paris in 1957, is a versatile author.
He heads the Groupe Oulipo, a group of writers dedicated to formal experiments.
He has already translated several books into German: After the novel “Nine Days in Lisbon” and the epistolary novel “I and the President”, dtv recently published the autobiographical work “All the happy families” in a translation by Jürgen and Romy Rides.
The Prix Renaudot, which is traditionally awarded on the same day as the Goncourt, goes to Marie-Hélène Lafon for the family novel "Histoire du fils" in 2020.
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