"The prize for winning the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary award, is a cheque for €10, which winners apparently tend to have framed - perhaps at greater expense than the actual prize money - and displayed proudly on the wall of their office or writing nook. The Prix Renaudot, meanwhile, comes with no cash award at all. But both prizes - along with the Prix Médicis, the Femina Prize, and the Académie Française Grand Prix du Roman - all boost book sales enormously."
"La Maison Vide (The Empty House) It needed just one round of voting by the jury of the Prix Goncourt to award the prestigious literary prize to Laurent Mauvignier for La Maison Vide - a forensic, fourth wall-breaking, fictional tour of his family's past, starting with his great-great-grandmother, through the medium of heirlooms and mementoes. The 750-page novel, which has more than an air of thriller about it, had earlier claimed the Prix littéraire Le Monde and the Prix des libraires de Nancy-Le Point,"
French literary prizes often offer symbolic cash awards but deliver substantial commercial impact. The Prix Goncourt awards a cheque for €10 that winners frequently frame and display. The Prix Renaudot carries no cash prize. The Prix Médicis, the Femina Prize, and the Académie Française Grand Prix du Roman also drive significant increases in book sales. Laurent Mauvignier's La Maison Vide won the Prix Goncourt in a single round; the 750-page novel is a forensic, fourth wall-breaking fictional tour of family history told through heirlooms and mementoes, with thriller overtones. Emmanuel Carrère received the Prix Médicis for a romanticised four-generation family story.
Read at The Local France
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