For its first edition, the Goncourt detainees, an initiative led by the National Book Center (CNL), was awarded Thursday to Sarah Jollien-Fardel for her novel “Her favorite”. The “national delegates have chosen to award the first Goncourt prisoner prize to Sarah Jollien-Fardel for her novel” Her favorite “published by Sabine Wespieser”, announces the CNL in a press release.
In “Her favorite”, Sarah Jollien-Fardel, born in Switzerland and author of her first novel at 51, tells the story of a mountain girl from Valais who seeks to rebuild herself after being persecuted throughout her childhood by her father. . It also won the Prix du Roman Fnac 2022.
Created in 2022, the Goncourt prisoner prize is supported by the Center national du livre and the prison administration, under the high patronage of the Académie Goncourt. A total of 500 prisoners in France take part in this initiative. The national jury was drawn this year from 31 penitentiary establishments (detention centers and remand centres).