Why does the prestigious Booker Prize go under the radar in France?

Samantha Harvey joins the prestigious Booker Prize list. Tuesday evening, the literary prize was awarded to this British writer for her novel Orbitalwhose story takes place on a space station. The novelist thus succeeds the Irishman Paul Lynch, in 2023, or the Sri Lankan Shehan Karunatilaka, the previous year. Their names don’t mean anything to you? Nothing very surprising (you can breathe, it wasn’t a trick question).

If we more easily remember the latest winners of the Goncourt, the Renaudot or the Femina – if only to show off the coffee machine in front of colleagues – the holders of the Booker Prize go much more unnoticed by the great French public. However, this literary prize created at the end of the 1960s is one of the most important in the world. But why does it go under the radar in France?

A prestigious award that marks its time

With a prize of 50,000 books (around 57,000 euros), the Booker Prize rewards each year a fiction novel written in English. After having long been reserved for British, Irish, Zimbabwean and Commonwealth authors, it opened in 2014 to American writers, recalls Franceinfo. Among the lucky winners of this internationally renowned prize, we include the Nobel Prize for Literature JM Coetzee for Michael K, his life, his timesin 1983, or the famous writer Margaret Atwood, author of the bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale (adapted into series), praised in 2000 for The Blind Killer. Furthermore, both have received this award twice.

For Michael McCaughley, editorial manager of the foreign field at Calmann-Lévy, the Booker Prize particularly captures the spirit of the times and of an era. “It’s a prize that creates debate, these are often hard-hitting and strong subjects,” he says. 20 Minutes. There have been some really notable Booker Prizes, notably Salman Rushdie with Midnight’s Children (in 1981) which marked a turning point, an opening in English literature. »

It is also a springboard for these more or less recognized authors before receiving it. “This is a prize that transforms the career of the winner (…) The winner and the shortlisted authors are assured of a global readership and can expect a spectacular increase in the sales of their books”, is- he specified on the Booker Prize website. But not in France?

A poorly identified price in France

In 2022, the British prize crowned The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (“The Seven Moons of Maali Almaida”), saluting “the breadth and competence, the audacity, the boldness and the hilarity” of its author Shehan Karunatilaka. A novel about the civil war in Sri Lanka at the end of the 20th century, published in its French translation, early 2024, by Calmann-Lévy. A bookstore success?

“I am not convinced that the Booker Prize is sufficiently identified to have an impact on the general public (in France)”, analyzes Michael McCaughley, who specifies that sales were “below expectations”. But the prestigious prize does not lack interest. “It’s also a showcase for the author, that was the case when Shehan Karunatilaka came to Paris. The fact of having the Booker Prize had a real lever on the implementation in bookstores”, underlines the editorial manager of the foreign domain at Calmann-Lévy.

It must be said that French readers are already overwhelmed by a host of literary prizes, such as the Goncourt or the Renaudot, most of which are also awarded in the fall. And in terms of foreign awards, another somewhat steals the show at the Booker Prize. “It has less media coverage than certain American prizes. The Pulitzer Prize has a greater impact, due to the fact that it rewards several categories of books, such as journalism, and that these are often current affairs subjects,” notes Michael McCaughley.

Does the Booker Prize suffer in France above all from a lack of awareness among the general public? “French customers don’t necessarily know which prize is British or American and which types of award-winning authors are there. But I think everyone knows that basically, they are the equivalent of Goncourt,” explains Patrick Moynot, the owner and director of the Smith & Son bookstore in Paris.

The language barrier

In this famous English-speaking bookstore in the capital, a window has been dedicated for a week to short list of the Booker Prize. These novels are among the best sellers of the year. “The Pulitzer, the Booker Prize… These are prizes that sell very well here. There is a real effect on the English-speaking clientele. » But it is on the side of French-speaking readers that things get stuck. For Patrick Moynot, a very simple reason lies behind this: the language barrier.

“As it is in English and it does not come out immediately in French, there is less interest. The news is made on the day, as readers cannot buy the book straight away, the impact is weaker. » Prophet Songthe novel by Paul Lynch, awarded in 2023, will not be released until next January, by Albin Michel.

In the articles Literature

The owner of the English bookstore is nevertheless optimistic. “There are more and more French people reading in English, particularly the younger generations with all the emergence of the Young Adult genre, New Romance… Or even novels by Sally Rooney, like Normal Peoplevery accessible books in terms of languages. There is a real growth in the number of people in France who are able and enjoy reading in English.”

Orbitalgreeted Tuesday evening, could also change the situation. Samantha Harvey’s novel is already available in French, published last March by Flammarion. What to shade Goncourt under the Christmas tree at the end of the year?