The writer Hervé de Tillier wins the French Goncourt literary prize

Paris: Writer Hervé Le Tillier won the prestigious French Goncourt literary prize on Monday for his novel “Lanomaly”, following a video ceremony for the first time due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Le Tillier, 63, a mathematician and former journalist and president of the Olibo Literary Association, received eight votes to two for “L’Estoreograph de Roium” by Mayle Renoir, one of four novelists in the final competition.

The award was delivered through closed circuit video, as each member of the jury stayed at home, to be absent this year from the scene of the deliberations at the table and the jostling of the journalists when the winner arrived.

The name of the Goncourt award winner was announced 48 hours after the libraries reopened.

Even before the announcement of the winner, Herve Le Tillier’s name was among the most popular for this prestigious award among literary journalists surveyed by the specialized monthly magazine “Livre Hebdo”, among whom was a journalist from AFP.

“We never expected to win an award like Goncourt. We did not write with the aim of getting it at first, nor do we imagine winning it,” the winning novelist said in a video message with his book editor Antoine Gallimard, owner of Gallimard.

“Lanomalía”, which is the eighth of Herve-le-Tillier’s novels, revolves around the consequences of a strange event represented by the two flights between Paris and New York that happened to transport the same passengers with a time difference of no more than a few months.

The novel brilliantly combines different genres, including black fiction, classic literary storytelling, and science fiction.

“The idea is that since Trump is present and he is the cause of the destruction of the world, the vision of the book revolves around presenting another version of the world in which Biden is president,” Le Tillier said.

“This book will please many in the world because we live in a phase that does not please the heart as everyone knows. This book will delight many. Thank you for writing it,” said Tahar Ben Jelloun, a French writer of Moroccan origin, in a video link.

The other three writers in the final competition were Mayel Renoir (Dar “Gracie”) and Cameroonian Djaili Amadou Amal with “Lesbasciant” (House of Emmanuel Colas) and Cami de Toledo with “Tizi, Sa Nouvel in” (House of “Verdier “).

The head of the Goncourt Committee, Didier Ducuan, expressed his hope that this novel will have the opportunity to achieve greater diffusion by adapting it into a series or film.

“It is true that the story has a real cinematic dimension,” Herve Le Tillier said, adding, “I wouldn’t mind if I saw this book on screen.

A few minutes after the winner of the Goncourt Prize was announced, the Ronodeau Literary Prize was also awarded to Mary Ellen Lafon for her novel “Estoire du Fais” (House of Bouchet-Chastelle), which spanned a century between 1908 and 2008.

The protagonist, Andre, who is being raised by his aunt, discovers a family secret while exploring their family lineage. Author Dominique Fortier also won the Ronodeau Prize for Literary Essay for her book “Les Villes de Papier” (House of Grassier).

Despite the closure measures currently in place, the announcement of this year’s literary awards was also accompanied by skepticism related to fairness. In an investigation published on Saturday, the New York Times condemned what it considered defects in the performance of the French literary committees, which according to the newspaper showed their interest in literary quality and chose novels difficult to understand by the public. This criticism affects the Ronodo Prize more than Goncourt.

These two awards, which are supervised by committees of volunteers, do not generate any material benefit for the winners, since the value of the economic reward for the winner of the Goncourt is limited to 10 euros, while the winner of the Renault Prize does not receive not a penny.

But the two awards have economic dimensions that are extremely important to writers and publishers, attracting the interest of tens and even hundreds of thousands of readers.

The composition of the Goncourt Prize jury changed, as journalist Bernard Bivou left the presidency of the Academy at the end of 2019 and novelist Virginie Depant resigned in early 2020. She joined Pascal Bruckner and Cami Lorenz.

In 2019, Jean-Paul Dubois won the Goncourt Prize for his novel “Not all people in the world live the same way.” As for the Ronodo Awards, the jury selected Silvan Tyson’s novel “La Panettiere de Neige” and Erik Neuehoff’s essay “Trey Share Cinema France”.