Laurent Mauvignier was one of the five finalists

The literary prize will be announced Thursday in Rennes. Nathacha Appanah, David Deneufgermain, Paul Gasnier and David Thomas were also among the finalists.

Laurent Mauvignier, Nathacha Appanah, David Deneufgermain, David Thomas and Paul Gasnier: one of these five authors will win the Goncourt prize for secondary school students, very influential in terms of sales and awarded on Thursday in Rennes, according to the final selection announced Monday 24 November.

“After more than two months diligently reading the 14 novels that were nominated (…), the high school student delegations from each region negotiated behind closed doors” to finalize this reduced list, organizers said in a press release. The five finalist novels in this 38th edition are Empty house by Laurent Mauvignier (Midnight), Night in the heart by Nathacha Appanah (Gallimard), Farewell to the face by David Deneufgermain (Marchialy), Collision by Paul Gasnier (Gallimard) and A brother by David Thomas (Olivier).

The first two have won prizes this year: the Goncourt prize for Laurent Mauvignier and the Femina prize for Nathacha Appanah. Since the start of the school year, nearly 2,000 students from some fifty high schools, in second, first or last grades, have read and studied the 2025 selection works, nearly identical to the Goncourt prize works.

Only David Diop, the 2018 winner, was excluded, the Goncourt rules for high school students not allowing, like his older brother, a writer to win the prize twice.