In a year marked by controversy around Thélyson Orélien and artificial intelligence, the Goncourt prize was finally awarded, on Tuesday, to Philippe Jaenada for his novel "L'inconnue du quai de Javel".
Published on: 03/11/2026 - 12:51 Modified on: 03/11/2026 - 13:39
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The 2026 Goncourt Prize was awarded, Tuesday, November 3, to Philippe Jaenada for his novel "L'Inconnue du quai de Javel", published by Flammarion, in which the writer investigates the assassination of Louise Cansot, a young Breton woman killed at the end of the 1950s at the height of her career as a model.
The name of the winner was revealed by Philippe Claudel, president of the academy, from the steps of the Drouant restaurant in Paris. “It makes visible a woman who has been made invisible, a victim, a young victim about whom the police were not too concerned,” he told the press.
“I feel happy”
The 62-year-old author has won over a loyal readership with long-running books on criminal cases such as “Sulak” (2013), “La Petite Femelle” (2015) and “La Serpe” (2017). With “L’Inconnue du quai de Javel”, he continues in this intimate-police vein.
“I feel joyful,” he commented upon his arrival at the Drouant restaurant in Paris. Recently interviewed by AFP, he declared "When you win a literary prize, it's great, it's a joy. Because it's one of the important ways to make your book known, to sell books and to have readers."
Read alsoLiterature: Philippe Vasset wins the Medici Prize for his novel “In the main lines”
He won the prestigious literary distinction against Yannick Haenel ("The solitude of professors is infinite", Gallimard), Clémentine Mélois ("Things that I believed lost", L'Arbalète) and Sylvain Prudhomme ("On the other side of the lake", Minuit). The nine members of the Academy gave six votes to Philippe Jaenada and three to Yannick Haenel for “The solitude of teachers is infinite”, which chronicles the difficulties of a young French teacher in the Paris suburbs.
Controversy around AI
The literary season was marked by the controversy linked to Thélyson Orélien, the Canadian-Haitian author accused of having used artificial intelligence for the writing of his novel "It was that or to die" (Grasset), present in the Goncourt selection before being withdrawn.
Read alsoThe novel by Thélyson Orélien, marred by scandals, removed from the Goncourt selection
With Reuters and AFP
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