Les Grands Prix (The Major Prizes)

Prix Goncourt

• Founded: 1903
• Awarded by: Académie Goncourt (10 members)
• When: First Monday in November
• Prize: €10 (symbolic), but generates massive sales
• Significance: The most prestigious French literary prize
• Notable winners: Proust (1919), Malraux (1933), Beauvoir (1954), Duras (1984), Houellebecq (2010), Ernaux (alternative Goncourt)
• Controversies: Often accused of favoritism, commercial considerations

Prix Femina

• Founded: 1904 (in response to all-male Goncourt jury)
• Awarded by: Jury of 12 women writers
• When: Early November
• Significance: Major prize with feminist origins
• Notable winners: Colette (1920), Beauvoir (1943)

Prix Renaudot

• Founded: 1926
• Awarded by: Journalists and critics
• When: Same day as Goncourt (consolation prize tradition)
• Significance: Often more daring choices than Goncourt
• Notable winners: Céline (1932), Sartre refused (1964)

Prix Médicis

• Founded: 1958
• Focus: Innovative and experimental literature
• Categories: French novel, foreign novel, essay
• Notable winners: Duras (1958), Sollers (1961)

Prix de l'Académie française

• Multiple prizes: Grand Prix du Roman, Grand Prix de Poésie, etc.
• Awarded by: The French Academy
• Significance: Conservative but prestigious
• Monetary value: Substantial (€10,000-45,000)