On 25 October, to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Goncourt Prize: Polish Choice award, the president of the Goncourt Academy, Didier Decoin, accompanied by all members of the Academy, announced this year's list of nominees. The ceremony, hosted at the Jagiellonian University, was attended by JU Rector Prof. Jacek Popiel and the French Ambassador to Poland Étienne de Montaigne de Poncins.
The Goncourt Prize (French: Prix Goncourt) is a French literary award founded in 1896 by the French writer Edmond de Goncourt in his will. The Literary Society named after him (Société littéraire des Goncourt) was officially established in 1902, and the award was presented for the first time on 21 December 1903.
The prize may be awarded to one author only once in a lifetime, with the only exception being Romain Gary, who received it a second time under the pen name Émile Ajar. The winner of the Goncourt Prize, awarded to the best prose work in a given year (usually novels), is always announced in November. Since 1988, the French high school students also award their won Goncourt Prize - Prix Goncourt des lycéens.
In this year's edition, the nominees for the Award are:
- Jean-Baptiste Andrea (Veiller sur elle)
- Gaspard Koenig (Humus)
- Éric Reinhardt (Sarah, Susanne et l'écrivain)
- Neige Sinno (Triste tigre)
The Polish Choice award is a literary award that was created in cooperation with the French Academy of Goncourts in 1998. The aim of this distinction is to promote contemporary French literature in Poland by selecting and honouring the best French novel of the year, following the example of the prestigious Goncourt Prize in France. Since then, this formula has been successfully transferred to other countries.
The functioning of the Polish choice award is similar to the Goncourt Prize. Students of French Studies from all over Poland are tasked with selecting the best French novel from among the books from the first list of novels nominated for the Goncourt Prize. The Polish Choice proves the influence and importance of French literature and provides Polish readers with access to it. It also gives French writers a chance to reach a new audience in Poland.
Currently, the prize is a symbolic 10 euros, but the awarding of the Goncourt Prize means that the book immediately sells from 250,000 to 450,000 copies.
