Five authors – including 2025 Goncourt prize winner Laurent Mauvignier – are still competing for the Goncourt prize for secondary school students, which will be awarded on Thursday in Rennes, organizers announced on Monday, November 24.
The five finalist novels are Night in the heart by Nathacha Appanah (Gallimard), already a Femina gift, Farewell to the face by David Deneufgermain (Marchialy), Collision by Paul Gasnier (Gallimard), A brother by David Thomas (The Olivier) and Empty house by Laurent Mauvignier (Minuit), winner of the Goncourt Prize, also winner of the Literature Prize World 2025.
“After more than two months diligently reading the 14 novels that were nominated, from the first selection of the Académie Goncourt, delegates of high school students from each region negotiated behind closed doors”organizers said in a press release.
“Kolkhoze” and “Trillir” failed
Thirteen high school student delegations, appointed in regional deliberations held Monday in six cities (Lyon, Metz, Nîmes, Paris, Poitiers and Rennes), will meet Thursday morning in the Breton capital, behind closed doors, “for a major national deliberation”explained the press release. These delegates must announce the winners around 1 p.m. at Rennes city hall while the awards ceremony will take place in the afternoon in Paris.
Novel by Emmanuel Carrere, Kolkhoz (published by POL), who received the Medicis prize, such as Maria Pourchet, Frowning (Stock), were among the failed novels: they were not selected by high school students in their final lists.
Highly influential in terms of sales, Goncourt for high school students can represent several hundred thousand copies sold in a typical year.
The younger sibling of the Goncourt for adults, the Goncourt for secondary school students, created in Rennes in 1988 and organized by Fnac and the Ministry of National Education, takes place every year from September to November. This allows young readers to discover contemporary literature and promotes a taste for reading in their locality.
In 2024, the Goncourt prize for secondary school students was awarded to Sandrine Collette for her book Madelaine before Dawnpublished by JC Lattès.
