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Le JDD: "Prix Roger Nimier: Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld laureate 2024, the jury entirely renewed"
For its 60th edition, the prestigious literary prize was awarded to Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld for his novel "Les Petits Farceurs" (Robert Laffont). The jury, historically chaired by academician Jean-Marie Rouart, announced that it would be handing over the reins to a new generation of authors.
Former president Jean-Marie Rouart introduces the six members of the new jury. Lara Tchekov
" I'm delighted to receive this prestigious award," Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld, winner of the Prix Roger Nimier 2024, told Le JDD on Wednesday May 29. " Having read many of the books that won the Prix Nimier when I was younger, I'm honored to join this list of winners .
Jury member Éric Neuhoff praised Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld's work for its " patte, its style ". "There's also something very French, something terribly Balzacian in this novel ", he added.
The Roger Nimier award ceremony took place in the salon of the same name at Fouquet's in Paris. Starting at 7pm, writers, publishers, literary critics and a number of cultural figures, including Philippe Labro, Marin de Viry, Pierre Valentin, Nathan Devers, Prince Joachim Murat, Vera Michalski, Thierry Coudert, Bertrand de Saint Vincent and David Chanteranne, took over the iconic Parisian restaurant.
Everyone had their pick of four authors still in the running: in addition to the winner Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld, Charlie Roquin for Les Maîtres de Bayreuth (Le Cherche-Midi), Noham Selcer for Les Chaînes de Markov (Gallimard) and Emmanuel Villin for Kim Philby et moi (Stock).
Academician Jean-Marie Rouart, the emblematic president of the jury, spoke on behalf of the jury, which included Bernard Chapuis, Marc Dambre, Éric Neuhoff, Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, Gilles Pudlowski, Didier Van Cauwelart and Florian Zeller. " With Roger Nimier, there's a spirit of provocation. So we decided to be provocative. The Solar Temple sect had chosen to commit suicide: like them, all together, we have chosen to pass the baton to a new generation ," declared Jean-Marie Rouart with humor.
The announcement took the audience by surprise: the eight members of the jury passed the baton to six new members recruited from the younger generation of writers, namely Eugénie Bastié, Jessica Nelson, Céline Laurens, Erwan Barillot - whose pen is regularly featured in the columns of Le JDD -, Charlie Roquin and new award-winner Louis-Henri de La Rochefoucauld.
The Roger Nimier Prize, instituted in 1963 by André Parinaud and Denis Huisman, honors a young writer whose work reflects the spirit of the eponymous author. This literary prize is awarded every year in the second half of May, with financial support from Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chairman of Vivendi's Management Board.
French writer, journalist and scriptwriter Roger Nimier is recognized as one of the leading figures of the " Hussards " literary movement. " We're very happy, because we've found people in their thirties who look like us," concluded Jean-Marie Rouart. The next generation is assured.
Read the article on www.lejdd.fr
By Lara Tchekov
Published May 30, 2024
