Kevin Lambert and his novel Let our joy remain continue to make waves in France, having won the Page 111 Prize on Friday.
The jury highlighted in a press release “the coherence, literary qualities and critical tone of the page, as well as the particularly relevant use of vowels”.
This award, which has existed since 2012, is described by its creators (the French music channel Radio Nova and a collective of authors and publishers) as “the most seriously absurd of literary prizes”. The winner receives the symbolic sum of 1.11 euros ($1.61), presented in 111 1-cent coins, along with their framed and signed page 111. It was Théo Bourgeron who won it last year with Ludwig in the living room (Gallimard).
Notably, two other Quebecers were among the 11 titles in the prize selection this year: The version that doesn’t interest anyone, by Emmanuelle Pierrot (Le Quartanier), and Lecompte est bon, by Louis-Daniel Godin (La People).
Kevin Lambert’s third novel, Que notre joie abide, was published in Quebec last year, by Héliotrope, and last August in France, by the publisher Le Nouvel Attila. He is one of the eight finalists for the Médicis Prize, which will be awarded on November 9 in Paris. He also won the Ringuet prize from the Académie des lettres du Québec last week and is one of the four finalists for the Décembre prize (which will be awarded on October 31 in Paris). Selected in the first Goncourt list at the beginning of September, he was not included in the second list of the prestigious prize.
The novel recounts the turmoil into which an internationally renowned architect finds herself, accused of accelerating the gentrification of neighborhoods. This third title by the author has caused a lot of ink to flow over the months, finding itself at the heart of a controversy involving François Legault last summer. The Prime Minister earned harsh criticism from Kevin Lambert after complimenting him on his book. Then, at the beginning of September, Kevin Lambert was again at the center of a controversy after his selection at Goncourt, criticized this time by the French writer and Goncourt 2018 Nicolas Mathieu who criticized him for having used a sensitive reader in the process of rereading his novel.
