The writer Laurent Mauvignier, in Paris, in October. BRUNO LEVY FOR LE MONDE
The 2025 Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize, was awarded to Laurent Mauvignier for La Maison vide ("The Empty House"), the academy announced on Tuesday, November 4, from the Drouant restaurant in Paris. Already honored by the Le Monde Literary Prize and the Prix des Librairies de Nancy-Le Point, La Maison vide had been considered the frontrunner for several weeks, and especially since the day before, when the Prix Femina went to La Nuit au cœur ("Night at the Heart") by Nathacha Appanah, which had been shortlisted for the Goncourt alongside Kolkhoze by Emmanuel Carrère and Le Bel Obscur ("The Dark Beauty") by Caroline Lamarche.
Announced immediately afterward, and at the same venue, the Renaudot Prize was awarded to Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre for Je voulais vivre ("I Wanted to Live").
For many years, Mauvignier's omission from major literary institutions had seemed an injustice. Born in 1958, Mauvignier was acclaimed from his debut novel, Loin d'eux ("Far From Them," 1999), and established himself as one of the most important writers of his generation through works such as Apprendre à finir ("Learn to Finish"), Dans la foule (In the Crowd), Des hommes, Continuer ("Men, Continue") and Histoires de la nuit ("Stories of the Night"). With his 10th novel, La Maison vide, the Goncourt crowns what appears to be the (provisional) culmination of his oeuvre.
