Prix Goncourt book prize to be awarded November 2
The Prix Goncourt, one of the most important prizes in French literature, will be awarded in Paris on Monday, November 2.
The 2009 finalists, listed below, were announced on October 27, following a third selection round:
Laurent Mauvignier: Des hommes (Minuit)
Marie Ndiaye: Trois femmes puissantes (Gallimard)
Jean-Philippe Toussaint: La vérité sur Marie (Minuit)
Delphine de Vigan: Les heures souterraines (JC Lattès)
Since 1903 the Prix Goncourt has been given by the Académie Goncourt to recognize excellence and imagination in French prose. Past winners have included Marcel Proust, Jean Fayard, Simone de Beauvoir, Georges Duhamel, Alphonse de Chateaubriant, and Antonine Maillet.
In 2008, French-Afghani author Atiq Rahimi won the prize for his Syngué sabour, Pierre de patience. An English translation of the novel, titled The Patience Stone, is scheduled for release in January 2010.
In addition to recognition in the French literary community, Goncourt Prize-winners receive a symbolic monetary award of ten euros, the equivalent of the 50-franc sum given when the prize was established.
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