The first selection of the Femina Prize gives pride of place to discreet authors who are not in the limelight.
Renowned writers are nevertheless on the list, including Marie-Hélène Lafon and Serge Joncourt who are also selected by the jurors of Renaudot.
The Femina is to be awarded on November 3.
Here are the first two selections:
Femina Prize, French Literature:
Didier Blonde,
Address book of some fictional characters from literature
(Gallimard)
Miguel Bonnefoy,
Heritage
(Shores)
Sarah Chiche,
Saturn
(Threshold)
Thierry Clermont,
Barroco bordello
(Threshold)
Oriane Jeancourt Galignani,
La Femme-Ecrevisse
(Grasset)
Serge Joncour,
Human nature
(Flammarion)
Lola Lafon,
Chavirer
(Actes Sud)
Marie-Hélène Lafon,
Story of the son
(Buchet-Chastel)
Hugo Lindenberg,
One day it will be empty
(Bourgois)
Sarah Manigne,
Leaving Madrid
(Mercure de France)
Diane Mazloum,
A swimming pool in the desert
(JC Lattès)
Diane Meur,
Under the Sky of Men
(Sabine Wespieser)
Laurent Petitmangin,
What is needed at night (
La Manufacture des livres)
Patricia Reznikov,
Amrita
(Flammarion)
Florence Seyvos,
A Beast on the Watch
(L'Olivier)
Elisa Shua Dusapin,
Vladivostok Circus
(Zoe)
Angélique Villeneuve,
La Belle Lumière
(Le Passage)
Femina Prize, foreign literature:
Dulce Maria Cardoso,
Eliete, normal life
(Chandeigne)
Jeanine Cummins,
American Dirt
(Philippe Rey)
Lucy Ellmann,
The Lionesses
(Threshold)
Yaa Gyasi,
Sublime kingdom
(Calmann-Lévy)
Kiran Millwood Hargrave,
Les Graciés
(Robert Laffont)
Nazanine Hozar,
Aria
(Stock)
Deborah Levy,
The Cost of Living and What I Don't Want to Know
(Editions du Sous-Sol)
Annalena McAfee,
Poison florilegium
(Belfond)
Colum McCann,
Apeirogon
(Belfond)
Tiffany McDaniel,
Betty
(Gallmeister)
Eshkol Nevo,
The Last Interview
(Gallimard)
Richard Russo,
Return to Martha's Vineyard
(Quai Voltaire)
Eduardo Fernando Varela,
Patagonia route 203
(Metaillé)
Colson Whitehead,
Nickel Boys
(Albin Michel)
