As every year, the Fnac novel prize opens the literary prize ball with its prestigious award.
Its jury, made up of 400 members and 400 booksellers, selected not thirty, but thirty-two novels.
An exception to tradition.
Sign if one were needed that this new season promises to be particularly rich!
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After two months of diligent reading, the Prize Commission met to establish its first selection.
"Fifteen books are chosen by booksellers, the other fifteen are determined by the ratings of members"
, we read on the Fnac website. Two novels were also selected by the jury. Is it among these that the future winner is hiding?
It should be noted that among these 32 novels are nine foreigners: Victor del Árbol, Before the Terrible Years (Actes Sud), Michael Christie, When the last tree (Albin Michel), Mariana Enriquez, Our part at night (Ed. Sous- sol), Hélène Bukowski, Les dents de lait (Gallmeister), Daniel Loedel, Hades, Argentina (La Croisée), Nicole Dennis-Benn, Make me proud (L'aube), Joyce Maynard, Where happy people lived (Philippe Rey), Rosa Maria Unda Souki, What Frida Gave Me (Zulma), including Douglas Stuart who received the Booker Prize 2020 for Shuggie bain (Globe).
Since the creation of the Fnac novel prize in 2002, three non-French-speaking novelists have been able to claim the famous Grail. In 2010, there was the Finnish Sofi Oksanen crowned for her novel Purge (Stock) in 2014, the British Benjamin Wood for The Complex of Eden Bellwether (Zulma). Last year, it was Tiffany McDaniel who won the prize for the novel Fnac with Betty, (Gallmeister), translated by François Happe.
Note that ten authors publish a first novel.
This is the case of Alain Mascaro, with Before the world closes (Autrement), Hélène Bukowski, Les dents de lait (Gallmeister), Mariana Enriquez, Notre part de nuit (Ed. Sous-sol), Daniel Loedel , Hades, Argentine (La Croisée), Salomé Kiner, with Big Crown (Christian Bourgois), Timothée Stanculescu with The Dazzling Little Girls (Flammarion), Douglas Stuart, Shuggie bain (Globe), Dan Nisand with Les Garçons de la cité -jardin (Les Avrils), Mariette Navarro, with Ultramarins (Quidam) and Rosa Maria Unda Souki, What Frida gave me (Zulma).
Finally, let us note the presence of David Diop, crowned with the International Booker Prize for his novel Brother Soul, which competes this year with The door of the journey without return (Seuil).
The names of the four finalists will be announced at the end of August and the proclamation of the winner in early September.
The award-winning author will receive his Prize at the inauguration of the Salon Fnac Livres which will be held from September 30 to October 2, in the form of physical meetings and digital events.
Discover below the 32 titles of the literary re-entry 2021 according to the 800 members of the jury for the Fnac novel prize:
The postcard, Anne Berest (Grasset), Berlin requiem, Xavier-Marie Bonnot (Plon), Les Dents de lait, Hélène Bukowski, translated from German by Sarah Raquillet and Elisa Crabeil (Gallmeister), The most shooting stars, Estelle-Sarah Bulle (Liana Levi), The Professor's Son, Luc Chomarat (The Book Factory), When the Last Tree, Michael Christie, translated from English (Canada) by Sarah Gurcel (Albin Michel),
Alone in her home, Cécile Coulon (L'Iconoclaste), Milwaukee blues, Louis-Philippe Dalembert (Sabine Wespieser), The son of man, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo (Gallimard), Before the terrible years, Victor del Árbol, translated from Spanish by Claude Bleton (Actes Sud), Delta Blues, Julien Delmaire (Grasset), Rends-moi fière, Nicole Dennis-Benn, translated from English (Jamaica) by Benoîte Dauvergne (Ed. ), The door of the journey of no return, David Diop (Seuil),
Our night part, Mariana Enriquez, translated from the Spanish (Argentina) by Anne Plantagenet (Ed. Du Sous-sol), All that Manon says is true, Manon Fargetton (Héloise d'Ormesson), If he n ' only one left, Patrice Franceschi (Grasset), And yet they exist, Thierry Froger (Actes Sud), Bellissima, Simonetta Greggio (Stock), Soleil amer, Lilia Hassaine (Gallimard), Grande Couronne, Salomé Kiner (Christian Bourgois) , What we need of remorse and hope, Céline Lapertot (Viviane Hamy), Hades, Argentina, Daniel Loedel, translated from Spanish (Argentina) by David Fauquemberg (La Croisée),
Before the world closes, Alain Mascaro (Autrement), Where happy people lived, Joyce Maynard, translated from English (United States) by Florence Lévy-Paoloni (Philippe Rey), Ultramarins, Mariette Navarro (Quidam editor ), The Boys of the Garden City, Dan Nisand (Les Avrils), The Woman and the Bird, Isabelle Sorente (JC Lattès), The Dazzling Little Girls, Timothée Stanculescu (Flammarion), Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart, translated from English (Scotland) by Charles Bonnot (Globe), What Frida gave me, Rosa Maria Unda Souki, translated from Spanish (Venezuela) by Margot Nguyen Béraud and the author (Zulma), On the roofs, Frédéric Verger (Gallimard) and Mahmoud or the rising waters, Antoine Wauters (Verdier).
