(Paris) The Interallié prize, one of the main French literary prizes, was awarded on Wednesday to Gaspard Kœnig for Humus, a fiction about two young agronomic engineers who are critical of intensive agriculture.
This novel, published in August by Editions de l’Observatoire, also won the Jean Giono prize. And he was among the finalists for the Goncourt and Renaudot prizes.
Gaspard Kœnig, 40, made his name through literature, with his first novel in 2004. Then he took detours through philosophy, essays and politics.
“With this book, I return to the novel and it is a pleasure to have this recognition,” declared the winner after the prize was announced at the Lasserre restaurant in Paris.
“Through the novel, a lot can be said. It’s more powerful. I was able to get to the bottom of my characters’ ideas, and I can’t decide. Then, above all, there is the pleasure of creation, which makes me want to continue,” he added.
The exclusively male jury for this literary prize created in 1930, which preferably rewards journalists, had selected five men in its last selection.
He did not reveal how the vote took place.
“It was decided pretty quickly. We thought that Gaspard Kœnig would have other prizes before the Interallié and therefore, for us, it was a prize that seemed obvious to us,” a member of the jury, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, explained to AFP. .
