French Institute in Romania launches program on contemporary French literature, Goncourt winner Kamel Daoud among guests
The program, spanning three months, will cover meetings with authors, debates and literary events in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
Simona Fodor · Journalist
· 2 min read
The French Institute is launching the first edition of Saison Goncourt/ Goncourt Season, a yearly program dedicated to contemporary French literature.
The program, spanning three months, will cover meetings with authors, debates and literary events in Romania and the Republic of Moldova.
The project is developed around the Choix Goncourt de la Roumanie et de la République de Moldova / Goncourt – Romania and Moldova Choice, a program allowing students to choose their own winner of the prestigious literary prize from among the novels in the official Prix Goncourt selection.
The first stage of the program will take place from September 23 to September 26, when Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, the winner of the 2024 Prix Goncourt for his novel Houris, will be in Romania.
From October 8 to October 10, Nathacha Appanah will be in Bucharest. She is the author of La Nuit au cœur, which was selected by the student jury in Romania and the Republic of Moldova as the 2025 Goncourt Choice winner.
Later, students from the seven participating universities will meet for the final deliberations and selection of the Choix Goncourt de la Roumanie et de la République de Moldova / Goncourt – Romania and Moldova Choice.
“Saison Goncourt is, above all, a project built around reading and the meaningful encounters that books make possible: encounters between authors and readers, and between contemporary French literature and a new generation of readers in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. […] Above all, Saison Goncourt is about the circulation of ideas and the power of literature to create connections across borders,” Mélanie Martini, cultural attachée at the French Institute in Romania, said.
Goncourt – Romania and Moldova Choice is part of the international network Les Choix Goncourt, launched in 1998 and developed by the Académie Goncourt together with cultural institutions and partners in numerous countries. In Romania, the Goncourt Choice was launched in 2013, and since 2022 the program has also included the Republic of Moldova.
