(Paris) The French Academy announced on Thursday that it had awarded Daniel Pennac its Grand Prize for Literature, which recognizes the entire work of a writer.
This biannual prize, endowed with 25,000 euros ($36,000), rewards the author of the Malaussene saga, which ended with Terminus Malaussene in January.
“I don’t ask myself the question of posterity and I don’t ask myself the question of prices either”, declared the author to AFP on the occasion of the publication of this novel.
Prix Renaudot 2007 for Chagrin d’école, Daniel Pennac has always claimed his status as a “dunce” and the right for readers to “not read”, guided by their sole pleasure.
This prize, awarded in the past to Romain Rolland, Marguerite Yourcenar or Milan Kundera, is one of the 67 awarded by the Academy in its annual list.
Among the most prestigious, the Grand Prize for Poetry went to Jacques Roubaud, a member of Oulipo, for all of his work, and the Grand Prize of La Francophonie to a specialist in French literature, the American of Romanian, Thomas Pavel.
La Grande Sophie received the Grande Médaille de la chanson française, Cédric Klapisch the René-Clair Cinema Prize, and Françoise Dastur the Grand Prix de philosophie, for all of their work.
Among the “support prizes for literary creation”, Kerwin Spire, a biographer of the novelist Romain Gary, receives the 3,000 euros ($4,300) attached to the Henri de Régnier prize, and the Franco-Venezuelan Miguel Bonnefoy those of the Amic prize.
The most coveted award, the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie française, is traditionally awarded at the end of October, at the same time as other major autumn literary prizes.