The Young Take on Goncourt: Fresh French Literature

The Prix Goncourt is France’s most important literary award, awarded since 1903. Now, if you ask how this prize relates to Estonia and Estonian literary life, it is obvious that French literature has had a great influence on global, European and Estonian literature – from the rebellious poems of François Villon and the carnival literature of François Rabelais to the Michel Houellebecq’s venomous novels proclaiming the decline of society or Katrina Kalda’s era-sensitive work that has its links to Estonia. It is impossible to think of 20th-century literature that lacks, for example, the contribution of Marcel Proust or Simone de Beauvoir. The Prix Goncourt clearly echoes the weight of French literature, for example in 2009 Jonathan Littell’s epic nightmarish novel The Kindly Ones about the Second World War, which has been characterised as War and Peace for the 21st century, was awarded the prize. Incidentally, the Estonian translation of this novel by Heli Allik is also considered among the most important literary events of the last decade in Estonia. It is therefore no wonder that the HeadRead literary festival brings together some young French-speaking literary enthusiasts to exchange views on the nominees of the 2024 Prix Goncourt Prize and to select their favourite(s).