Blaise Ndala and Louis-Philippe Dalembert are on the shortlist for Prix de la Porte Dorée 2022 announced on April 9, 2022.
Prix de la Porte Dorée (English: Porte Dorée Literary Prize) rewards a novel or a story written in French dealing with the theme of exile. The prize is endowed with 4,000 euros. The jury selects the winner from among ten titles from the current editorial year, selected by the Palais’ reading committee. Founded in 2010, some of the previous winners have been Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Henri Lopes, and Mehdi Charef.
The jury for this year has Marie Ndiaye, winner of the Prix Femina, and the Prix Goncourt, as president. She is joined by Véronique Chatenay-Dolto the General Administrator of the Ministry of Culture, former DRAC of Île-de-France; Blandine Fauré Literary programmer and coordinator of the Effractions-BPI festival; Cloé Korman Author; Gladys Marivat Literary critic; Alexis Nouss Professor of general and comparative literature at the University of Aix-Marseille, holder of the Exile and Migration Chair at the FMSH / College of World Studies; Sébastien Zaegler002C General Delegate of the Libraries in Seine-Saint-Denis association and of the Hors-Limites festival; and a high school girl.
The jury revealed the shortlist for the prize which features the following writers of African descent;
- Dans le ventre du Congo, Blaise Ndala (Editions du Seuil, 2021)
- Milwaukee Blues, Louis-Philippe Dalembert, (Sabine Wespieser, 2021)
Blaise Ndala tweeted on his shortlisting, “”In the belly of Congo @EditionsduSeuil in the selection alongside 6 texts that resonate as so many unavoidable promises. Thank you to the jury, congratulations to the peers.”
The 13th edition of the Porte Dorée Literary Prize will be held on Saturday, May 21 from 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Palais. The session will be preceded by a musical reading by Hadrien Bels, winner of the 2021 Prize.
