Considered the most prestigious award in French literature, the prize results in lucrative sale profits. Vuillard's book "L'Ordre du jour" looks at the hidden steps that gave rise to the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Saget
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The Prix Goncourt was awarded on Monday by the 10 members of the Academy Goncourt in Paris to Eric Vuillardfor having written the best French-language prose work of the preceding year.
While Vuillard will take home a token prize of just €10 (around $12), his book "L'Ordre du jour" (The order of the day)will receive the highly coveted Goncourt jacket-band, which leads to explosive book sales and household name fame.
In "L'Ordre du jour," Eric Vuillard use fiction to retrace the behind-the-scenes steps leading to Nazi Germany's invasion of Austria in 1938. Bookstore chain and co-sponsor of the award Fnac congratulated Vuillard on his win.
With respect to the relationship between history and fiction, Vuillard has said that, "Literature is intended to tell the stories that are important and even threatening ... There are forms of discovery that are specific to reading and writing. What I call fiction is the editing made by the data collected."
Also announced at Monday's ceremony was the Prix Renaudot, which is seen as a second-place award that, while not related to the Prix Goncourt, complements it. Author Olivier Guez received the honor for his work, "La disparition de Joseph Menguele" (The disappearance of Joseph Menguele).
The jury selected the Vuillard from a third-round shortlist featuring three other authors.
Yannick Haenel landed on the shirt list for his novel "Tiens ferme ta couronne" (Hold onto your crown), which follows an author determined to have his screenplay on Herman Melville's life produced. Veronique Olmi's novel "Bakhita" tells the story of a 19th-century slave who becomes a nun in Italy. And the fourth finalist, Alice Zeniter, tells the story of a family's tangled, silent history between France and Algeria in "L'Art de perdre" (The art of loss).
Yannick Haenel, Veronique Olmi, Eric Vuillard and Alice Zeniter were the four finalists for the Prix Goncourt 2017Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Saget
In 2016, French-Moroccan author Leila Slimani won the Prix Goncourt for her novel "Chanson Douce," which means "sweet song" or lullaby.
In addition to the two overall prose awards, the Goncourt Academy also awards four other genre-specific prizes at different dates to the current year's outstanding works in the categories of first novel, short story, poetry and biography.
The Prix Goncourt has been awarded every year since 1903. Works of prose written in French and published by French publishers over the past academic year are eligible. The entrants do not have to be French citizens. The book's editor submits the work to the academy, which then narrows the selection through oral voting over multiple rounds.
The academy was founded by the 19th-century French literary figure Edmond de Goncourt to encourage new talent in French literature. The Prix Goncourt is awarded in honor of Edmond's brother Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt.
A selection of France's best contemporary writers
With France the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year, we look at some of the nation's best contemporary authors.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Munoz Alvarez
Michel Houellebecq
The undisputed star, and enfant terrible, of modern French literature, Michel Houellebecq writes novels such as "Platform" and "Submission" that continually provoke public debate about capitalism, religion and sexual politics. Houellebecq will attend the Frankfurt fair with his new book, "In Schopenhauer's Presence," which describes how the German philosopher has long inspired the French author.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Munoz Alvarez
Virginie Despentes
Sometimes referred to as the female Houellebecq, Virginie Despentes has also been writing provocative novels for over two decades. She is best-known for "Baise-moi," her rape and revenge novel from 1993 that she also made into a cult film. Her autobiographical book, "King Kong Theory," recounts her time in the sex industry. She comes to Frankfurt with her novel trilogy, "Vernon Subutex."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.C.Hidalgo
Yasmina Reza
Next to Despentes, Yasmina Reza is among France's best-known female writers. She has penned several internationally lauded plays, including "God of Carnage," which was also adapted into an award-winning film by Roman Polanski. More recently, Reza has found success as a novelist. Her new book, "Babylon," plays again to Reza's strengths with its satirical take on bourgeois societal manners.
Image: Getty Images/P. Cuadra
Leïla Slimani
French-Moroccan novelist Leïla Slimani was awarded France's top literary prize, the Goncourt, in 2016 with "Chanson douce" (translated as "Sweet Song"), her novel about a nanny with a deadly agenda. Born in 1981, the novelist and journalist first gained attention with her debut, "Dans le Jardin de l'Ogre" ("In the Ogre's Garden"), that portrays the demise of a sex addict.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Saget
Édouard Louis
Still only 24, Édouard Louis has taken the French literary scene by storm with politically charged, autobiographical novels that explicitly reveal his own experience growing up queer among the underclasses of rural France. Following his breakout success, "The End of Eddy," Louis comes to Frankfurt to promote "History of Violence," an English translation of which will be released in 2018.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/E.Naranj
Didier Eribon
Born in 1953, Didier Eribon was long one of France's most famous sociologists until his 2009 book, "Return to Reims," an exploration of his working class origins (and the homophobia he faced), also made him a literary heavyweight – and inspired upcoming novelist Édouard Louis. His new book is called "Society as a Judgment," which also deals with class and identity.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Galuschka
Annie Ernaux
Somewhat like Didier Eribon, the autobiographical works of the author Annie Ernaux also derive from a sociological view of the world – and her experiences growing up in small town France. Her highly personal accounts of family, affairs, abortions and breast cancer have also been distilled into "The Years," a best-selling and highly acclaimed memoir that will be published in English next month.
Following the success of her award-winning breakout novel, "No et moi" (No and Me), about a special friendship between two very different teenage girls, Delphine de Vigan has since confirmed her literary renown with the fictional memoir "Nothing Holds Back the Night," which won over critics when published in English in 2014. Her latest novel is a psychological thriller, "Based on a True Story."
