Senior Anniversary Fellow Professor Catriona Seth recently attended the Résidence de France in London to award the Choix Goncourt UK.
The Académie Goncourt announced its final selection for the 2022 prize on 25 October 2022 in Paris:
- Le Mage du Kremlin by Giuliano da Empoli (Gallimard)
- Vivre vite by Brigitte Giraud (Flammarion)
- Les Presque sœurs by Cloé Korman (Seuil)
- Une somme humaine by Makenzy Orcel (Rivages)
In the UK, 30 students from 15 universities met to deliberate and choose their own Goncourt Prize after reading the four books. The project is a collaboration between the French Embassy in the UK, the Agence Universitaire pour la Francophonie, the Maison Française d’Oxford, the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni and Librairie la Page with the support of the Académie Goncourt. Filmed exchanges between the authors and students, organised by Professor Seth and the Maison Française d’Oxford (MFO) are available on the French Embassy website and YouTube.
One of the most enjoyable of my regular engagements is the annual ceremony for a prestigious literary prize. For the fourth year running, over a hundred UK students from across the four nations read the novels on the final shortlist of France’s ‘Prix Goncourt’ and selected their own winner. When I first mooted the idea of setting up this prize, I received strong support from the French Embassy and French Institute. Whilst I am reluctant to leave IASH and the National Library for Scotland where I am usually to be found reading 18th-century letters, it was a joy to preside over this year’s event at the Résidence de France at the invitation of Ambassador Hélène Duchêne. Brigitte Giraud was proclaimed as the winner for Vivre Vite. I also had the opportunity to interview Cameroonian writer Djaili Amadou Amal, the winner of the 2021 prize whom I had previously only encountered online during the COVID restrictions. It was a memorable occasion overall.
Find out more about the Choix Goncourt UK 2022-23 here.