The French Institute in Romania is launching this autumn the first edition of the Goncourt Season, a three-month programme dedicated to contemporary French literature in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, featuring acclaimed writers Kamel Daoud and Nathacha Appanah among its main guests, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday.

At the heart of the Goncourt Season is the Goncourt Choice of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, a programme that gives students an active role in engaging with contemporary French literature. They read and debate the novels in the official Prix Goncourt selection, compare their views and, following deliberations, make their own choice. Through the Goncourt Season, the French Institute aims to broaden the scope of this programme by bringing together meetings with writers, discussions with readers and the students' final deliberations.

'The Goncourt Season is, above all, a project built around reading and the meaningful encounters that books make possible: encounters between authors and readers, between contemporary French literature and a new generation of readers in Romania and the Republic of Moldova. We are delighted to place the students' voices at the heart of this project, because reading truly comes alive especially when it is shared. Through the Goncourt Choice of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, young people not only discover French literature, but become part of its international dialogue. The Goncourt Season is, above all, about this circulation of ideas and the power of literature to forge connections across borders,' said Melanie Martini, cultural attache at the French Institute in Romania.

Opening the Goncourt Season is Franco-Algerian writer Kamel Daoud, regarded as one of the most powerful and influential voices in contemporary French-language literature and winner of the 2024 Prix Goncourt for his novel 'Houris', who will be in Romania from 23 to 26 September, the cited source said.

He will meet the public on 23 September at the French Institute in Romania at an event moderated by literary critic Adina Dinitoiu. On 24 September, from 18:00, Daoud will take part in a discussion centred on 'Houris' with writer and cultural journalist Marius Constantinescu at the Humanitas Cismigiu bookshop. The novel has been published in Romanian by Trei Publishing House in its Anansi. World Fiction collection, translated by Irinel Antoniu.

Nathacha Appanah, an acclaimed writer known for the evocative power of her prose, will be in Bucharest from 8 to 10 October. Her novel 'La Nuit au coeur' was selected by the student jury from Romania and the Republic of Moldova as the 2025 Goncourt Choice of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

On 8 October, from 19:00, Appanah will launch 'La Nuit au coeur' at the Humanitas Cismigiu bookshop. The novel is due to be published in Romanian by Trei Publishing House, translated by Madalina Ghiu. On 9 October, from 18:30, she will meet readers and the students who read, debated and selected her novel at the French Institute in Romania.

The Goncourt Season will culminate in the final deliberations for the 2026 Goncourt Choice of Romania and the Republic of Moldova, when students from the seven participating universities will decide which of the selected novels receives their vote. The deliberations are due to take place on either 26 November or 3 December, according to the French Institute.

The Goncourt Choice of Romania and the Republic of Moldova is part of the international Les Choix Goncourt network, launched in 1998 and developed by the Academie Goncourt together with cultural institutions and partners in numerous countries. The programme was launched in Romania in 2013 and expanded to include the Republic of Moldova in 2022.

The Goncourt Choice is distinct from the Prix Goncourt itself, awarded by the Academie Goncourt in Paris. Under the international initiative, juries in different countries consider novels from the official Prix Goncourt selection and make their own choice, the cited source explained. AGERPRES (EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)

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