(Paris) Belgian novelist Amélie Nothomb is a finalist for the Renaudot Prize against three other writers, Anne Berest, Nicolas Chemla and Abel Quentin, the jury announced on Thursday.
For this prize awarded on the same day as the Goncourt prize, the last selection starred First blood (Albin Michel), where Amélie Nothomb writes the fictional memories of her father who died in 2020.
Facing her, Anne Berest in Postcard (Grasset) explores his Jewish ancestry. Dark Murnau (Cherche-Midi) by Nicolas Chemla tells the story of the shooting of the last film by German FW Murnau, Taboo. Finally Abel Quentin imagines in Etampes’ seer the turmoil in which a retired academic is caught after writing the biography of a black American poet.
For the Renaudot prize for the essay, the jury selected three titles: Saint Phalle (Stock) of Gwenaëlle Aubry, fictionalized biography of the artist Niki de Saint Phalle, In my street there were three shops (Presses de la Cité) by Anthony Palou, reflection on the disappearance of local shops, and The reclining lady (Threshold) by Sandra Vanbremeersch, portrait of Lucette Destouches, the widow of the writer Céline.
After a 2020 edition behind closed doors due to the health crisis, these prizes are awarded on November 3 at the Drouant restaurant.