African, Caribbean finalists of Prix des Cinq Continents de la Francophonie 2020

Hemley Boum, Léonora Miano, Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse, Gaelle Belem and Youssouf Amine Elalamy are finalists for the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie 2020 announced on October 5, 2020.

Prix des Cinq Continents de la Francophonie (English: Five Continents Prize of the Francophonie) was established by the International Organization of the Francophonie in 2001. It is aimed at highlighting literary talents reflecting the expression of cultural and editorial diversity in the French language on five continents and to promote them on the international scene. Some previous winners have been Alain Mabanckou, Wilfried N’Sondé, Yamen Manaï, and Fawzia Zouari.

The international jury for the 2020 edition includes Lise Bissonnette (Canada-Québec), Ananda Devi (Maurice), Hubert Haddad (France-Tunisia), Monique Ilboudo (Burkina Faso), Venus Khoury-Ghata (Lebanon), Liliana Lazar (Romania), Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (Maurice), Wilfried N’Sondé (Congo), René de Obaldia of the French Academy (Hong Kong), Lyonel Trouillot (Haiti), Abdourahman Waberi (Djibouti), Jun Xu (China), and Gilles Jobidon. This panel selected ten titles as finalists representing eight countries. Those in the running are;

• C’est beau la guerre, Youssouf Amine Elalamy (Maroc) aux éditions Le Fennec (Maroc)
• Les Jours viennent et passent, Hemley Boum (Cameroun-France) aux éditions Gallimard (France)
• Nafar, Mathilde Chapuis (France) aux éditions Liana Levi (France)
• Otages, Nina Bouraoui (Algérie-France) aux éditions Lattès (France)
• Rivage de la colère, Caroline Laurent (Maurice-France) aux éditions les Escales (France)
• Rouge impératrice, Léonora Miano (Cameroun-France) aux éditions Grasset & Fasquelle (France)
• Soie et metal, Tuyet Nga Nguyen (Vietnam-Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles) aux éditions Academia (Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles)
• Ténèbre, Paul Kawczak (France-Canada-Québec) aux éditions La Peuplade (Canada-Québec)
• Tous tes enfants disperses, Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse (Rwanda-France) aux éditions Autrement (France)
• Un monstre est là, derrière la porte, Gaelle Belem (France-Réunion) aux éditions Gallimard (France)

The international jury, chaired by Paula Jacques (France-Egypt), will meet in the last quarter to select the 2020 winner. The award ceremony will be held in Tunis as part of the French-language book-general states around the world and the Congress of Francophone Writers in early 2021.

The winner of the award goes home with 15,000 euros and 5000 euros goes to the special mention winner.