Despite the presence of three other authors in the competition - Gaël Faye, Hélène Gaudy, and Sandrine Collette - Kamel Daoud was the clear favorite from the beginning, and the ten-member jury, gathered at the Drouant restaurant in Paris, unanimously awarded him the prize.
Yesterday at 12:45 pm, the president of the Prix, writer Philippe Claudel, declared: “The 122nd Prix Goncourt has been awarded in the first round to Kamel Daoud for Houris published by Gallimard.”
The fortunate recipient promptly shared a message on X (formerly Twitter) in honor of his parents. “This is your dream, paid for by your years of life. To my late father. To my mother still alive, but who remembers nothing. No words exist to say true thanks.”
The award-winning novel narrates the tale of Aube, a young Algerian woman who must recall the war of independence, which she did not experience, while trying to erase the memory of the civil war of the 1990s, which she lived through. Her tragedy is etched on her body: a scar on her neck and damaged vocal cords.
Silenced, she yearns to rediscover her voice. She can only share this tragedy with the daughter growing inside her. However, does she have the right to bring this child into the world? Can one give life when it was nearly taken away? Aube decides to return to her hometown, where it all began, seeking answers from the deceased... “I am the true trace, the most powerful evidence of everything we endured in ten years in Algeria. I carry the story of an entire war, engraved on my skin since childhood,” the character confides.
By giving voice to Aube, the author of Meursault, contre-enquête (Meursault, counter-inquiry) undoubtedly aimed to pay homage to this group of women, many of whom, if not all, carry their pain and anger, whether or not they accept their fate... The scars of Aube, of Algeria, speak to us, but they are slowly fading, yet the plight of the silenced is a part of the history of a nation striving for self-awareness, seeking reconciliation with itself.
Although criticized by some and praised by others, Daoud defended himself against the backlash following the release of Houris, stating, “I write not about a war, but about how one emerges from it. This is why I named my character Aube; it is the challenging hour, between two worlds, where the sun and the night coexist, but where new beginnings take shape.”
In 2014, Kamel Daoud was awarded the Goncourt first novel prize for his book Meursault, contre-enquête.
At 54 years old, Kamel Daoud, a journalist by profession, is also the author of Zabor ou les psaumes, Mes indépendances, Son œil dans ma main, Le peintre dévorant la femme...
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