Nathacha Appanah and Yanick Lahens are on the Prix Goncourt 2025 Deuxième Selection announced in Paris, France, on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
The Prix Goncourt is given by the French Académie Goncourt to the author of “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year”. While it only has a token prize of around 10 Euros, it can increase a book’s sales by up to 200,000 to its winner. Previous winners include Leila Slimani (2016), Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (2021), and Kamel Daoud (2024), while Djaïli Amadou Amal made the shortlist in 2020.
The Goncourt Academy, chaired by Didier Decoin, is made up of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Pascal Bruckner, Paule Constant, Patrick Rambaud, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Camille Laurens, Françoise Chandernagor, Philippe Claudel, and Pierre Assouline.
The jury announced the first selection of the prize on September 3, before the second selection was October 8. On the second selection was La nuit au Cœur by Nathacha Appanah (Gallimard) and Passagères de Nuit, Yanick Lahens (Sabine Wespieser).
Haitian writer and novelist Yanick Lahens’ novel Passagères de Nuit (English: Night Passengers) pays homage to the line of women from whom she descends, emphasizing hope and resilience.
Mauritian-French writer Nathacha Appanah’s novel La Nuit au Cœur (English: The Night at the Heart) explores the desperate struggle of women to escape their violent partners and the incomprehensible nature of domestic killings, delving into the conditions of violence that engulf their lives. It is also in the running for the Prix Fémina, Prix Renaudot, and Grand Prix du Roman Métis.
The four finalists will be revealed on October 28 before the winner is announced at the Drouant restaurant, Paris, on November 4, 2025.
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