Haitian writer Louis-Philippe Dalembert received the Goncourt Poetry Prize on Tuesday for his entire body of work, the jury announced in a press release.
The author of Milwaukee Bluesa novel which was one of the four finalists for the 2021 Goncourt Prize, is the author of around ten collections of poems.
The latest, also published that year, is called These salt islands and other poems (Point editions).
Born in a working-class neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in 1962, a child and teenager passionate about books, Louis-Philippe Dalembert graduated in journalism and had a doctorate in comparative literature in France. He received the French Language Prize in 2019, awarded by a jury which included members of the Académie française and the Académie Goncourt.
The Goncourt Academy awarded three other prizes on Tuesday.
The Goncourt of the first novel went to Eve Guerra for Repatriation, published in January by Grasset editions. The story of the difficulties of repatriating to France the body of the narrator’s father, killed in a work accident in Cameroon, is an opportunity to reflect on his family history.
The Goncourt of the short story dedicated a collection by Véronique Ovaldé, To our imperfect livespublished in April by Flammarion.
Finally, for the Goncourt biography, the jury’s choice fell on that of Madame de Sévigné, famous letter writer from the 17th century.e century, by Geneviève Haroche-Bouzinac, professor at the University of Orléans.
PHOTO JOSEPH EID, ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Philippe Claudel
The Goncourt Academy changed president on Monday evening, electing Philippe Claudel to this position, who succeeds Didier Decoin.
The so-called “spring” Goncourt prizes are awarded by the same jury as the famous Goncourt prize, the most prestigious of French literary awards awarded at the end of October or beginning of November.
