In a Paris bookstore. In addition to Fatima Daas, Laura Vasquez, and Wendy Delorme, the prize seeks to give visibility to lesser-known women authors. MANON CHEMINEAU FOR M LE MAGAZINE DU MONDE
The French love their wordplay and this one was too good to pass up. After launching Lesbien Raisonnable in 2017 – a media outlet consisting of a newsletter and website chronicling lesbian cultural life, now supplemented by an Instagram account with more than 38,000 followers – 34-year-old Lauriane Nicol threw herself wholeheartedly into the creation of the Prix Gouincourt (gouine is a slang term for lesbian), an ironic hat tip to France's most celebrated literary award, the Prix Goncourt.
On Friday, November 7 (three days after the Goncourt is awarded), the new award is set to celebrate a "French lesbian novel," chosen by a jury of 10 artists and book industry professionals. Virginie Despentes (former member of the Académie Goncourt), Elisabeth Lebovici and Anna Mouglalis sit alongside lesser-known figures, not all of whom live in Paris and who meet the criteria of "diversity in age, disability, and ethnic background" established by Nicol and the prize's co-organizer, Alex Lachkar, a researcher specializing in contemporary lesbian literature.
