Le Prix Goncourt....

The longlist for the Prix Goncourt 2008 has been announced. This is the major literary prize for books in France, and the winner will be announced on the 10th of November. The shorter list will be announced on the 7th of October.

Unlike other literary prizes, the Prix Goncourt can only be given to an author once. Past winners you may have heard of include Marcel Proust, Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir.

Here is the shortlist for 2008:

Jean-Baptiste del Amo : Une éducation libertine (Gallimard)

Salim Bachi : Le Silence de Mahomet (Gallimard)

Christophe Bataille : Le Rêve de Machiavel (Grasset)

Mathieu Belezi : C'était notre terre (Albin Michel)

Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès : Là où les tigres sont chez eux (Zulma)

Catherine Cusset : Un brillant avenir (Gallimard)

Jean-Louis Fournier : Où on va, papa ? (Stock)

Valentine Goby : Qui touche à mon corps, je le tue (Gallimard)

Alain Jaubert : Une nuit à Pompéi (Gallimard)

Michel Le Bris : La Beauté du monde (Grasset)

Catherine Millet : Jour de souffrance (Flammarion)

Patrice Pluyette : La Traversée du Mozambique par temps calme (Le Seuil)

Atiq Rahimi : Syngué Sabour (POL)

Olivier Rolin : Un chasseur de lions (Le Seuil)

Karine Tuil : La Domination (Grasset)

The leader at the moment seems to be Olivier Rolin, although Catherine Millet is being talked about quite alot, as her novel on the list is a follow-up of her controversial memoir, The Sexual Life of Catherine M, in 2002, which one reviewer called 'the most explicit book about sex ever written by a woman'.

Anyone fancy making their way through the longlist with me? Or maybe we'll just wait for the winner to be announced and read that one....