France’s highest literary prize, the Goncourt, was awarded on Tuesday to former movie director Jean-Baptiste Andrea for his novel ‘Veiller sur elle’ (‘Wait Over Her’), set in Italy’s darkish fascist years.
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Andrea, 52, has made a mark within the English-speaking world with two well-received translations, “A Hundred Million Years and a Day” and “Devils and Saints.”
His newest 600-page epic focuses on a sculptor and his romance with a lady from a a lot wealthier background.
Andrea has taken an uncommon path. He began out as a screenwriter and movie director earlier than pursuing a profession in cinema that noticed him make a handful of movies, together with the 2006 black comedy “Large Nothing,” starring famed “Associates” actor David Schwimmer.
He turned to novels comparatively late in his 40s, along with his first guide revealed in 2017. “Watch Over Her” is his fourth novel.
“I wished to put in writing one thing larger than what I had written earlier than, to go away behind all of the boundaries that I had initially imposed on myself over twenty years of movie… however that I had additionally paradoxically imposed on my first three novels,” he says . informed France Inter radio in late October.
“It’s a tribute to Italy, the land of my ancestors,” he added.
Based on a centuries-old custom, the Goncourt winner shall be unveiled throughout lunch within the Drouant restaurant within the middle of Paris.
Along with status, the value ensures a rise in gross sales – on common over the previous twenty years to roughly 400,000 copies.
Andrea bested favourite Eric Reinhardt’s stylistically daring novel a few lady’s decline after leaving her household.
Reinhardt’s “Sarah, Susanne et l’ecrivain” (“Sarah, Susanne and the Author”) tells the story of a lady pushed to despair by a horrible husband.
In an indication of the strain of the race, the jury didn’t award the prize till the 14th spherical of voting. “It is a very emotional second. I used to be drying my tears within the taxi,” Andrea mentioned when he arrived on the restaurant.
Aggressive costs
There are 4 finalists for the prize annually.
Additionally within the fray was Gaspard Koenig, who had beforehand focused on philosophical essays and gained many followers with “Humus,” the story of two younger agricultural activists against intensive agriculture.
However one of many contenders, Neige Sinno, had no probability of profitable due to a long-standing rivalry with one other prize, the Prix Femina, which was created a yr after the Goncourt in 1904 to problem the overt sexism of its founders, Jules and Edmond de Goncourt.
Sinno gained the Prix Femina on Monday for her story of incest and sexual violence, “Triste tigre” (Unhappy Tiger), successfully excluding her from the Goncourt by the unwritten guidelines of the rivalry.
Instantly after the Goncourt, and likewise within the Drouant restaurant, the presentation of the Renaudot takes place, a way more unpredictable prize.
Initially began as a joke within the Twenties by journalists killing time whereas ready for the Goncourt jury, the Renaudot is now thought of one among France’s prime prizes.
That prize went to cult author Ann Scott for her novel Les insolents, a few lady in her forties who leaves Paris to reinvent her life.
Throughout his electrical profession, Scott was a mannequin, a drummer in a punk band and a daily on the underground Paris night time scene. She began writing on the age of 29, most notably the novels “Asphyxia” after which “Superstars”.
The Renaudot Prize has not been with out controversy over time, with many accusing the judges of awarding the prize to their buddies within the cozy literary world of Paris.
That included presenting the 2013 essay prize to Gabriel Matzneff, who wrote for many years about his choice for intercourse with kids and confronted a rape investigation after publishing a guide “Consent” that has now been made into a movie.
(AFP)
view extraMeet Jean-Baptiste Andrea, winner of the celebrated French Goncourt Prize
