Estonian Prix Goncourt 2023

The Prix Goncourt is the most important literary award in France. Winning this recognition directly affects book sales and translations, not to mention the renown of authors. It has been awarded for more than a hundred years now, with John Antoine Nau’s novel Force ennemie (Enemy Force) winning the first Prix Goncourt in 1903. A remarkable number of Prix Goncourt winners have been translated into Estonian and several of them have visited the HeadRead festival: such as Andreï Makine, whose Dreams of My Russian Summers won the prize in 1995, or Hervé Le Tellier, whose The Anomaly received the honour in 2020. We must also not forget Jonathan Littell’s 2006 winner The Eumenides, as its Estonian translation was a major literary event last year. The institution of Prix Goncourt reaches Estonia now, because the French Institute has teamed up with the Goncourt Academy to also issue the prize in Estonia. The 2023 Estonian Prix Goncourt is awarded by school and university students and translators who are well-versed in French, and they will choose their favourite from four finalists. On Saturday, some of them will come to Ait to discuss and celebrate the winner. Members of the jury of the Estonian Prix Goncourt, translators Maren Aare and Leon Hagel from Tallinn University, Ave Albert and Juuli Teder from the University of Tartu, Deputy Director of the French Institute and Cooperation Attaché for French Language Guillaume Raboutot and Madleena Mattus from the Gustav Adolf School will share their experiences and reading recommendations. The event is moderated by translator Anna Linda Varik. The winner selected by the young will be invited to Estonia to meet their existing and future readers.