The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but results in considerable recognition and book sales for the winning author. Four other prizes are also awarded: prix Goncourt du Premier Roman, prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle, prix Goncourt de la Poésie (poetry) and prix Goncourt de la Biographie (biography). Of the "big six" French literary awards, the Prix Goncourt is the best known and most prestigious. The other major literary prizes include the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Prix Femina, the Prix Renaudot, the Prix Interallié and the Prix Médicis.
Andrée Chedid, born Andrée Saab Khoury, was an Egyptian-French poet and novelist of Syrian/Lebanese descent. She is the recipient of numerous literary awards and was made a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour in 2009.
Suzanne Jacob is a French Canadian novelist, poet, playwright, singer-songwriter, and critic.
Baroness Suzanne Lilar was a Flemish Belgian essayist, novelist, and playwright writing in French. She was the wife of the Belgian Minister of Justice Albert Lilar and mother of the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris and the art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar.
Michèle Lalonde was a Canadian dramatist, essayist, playwright and poet for print and radio. She began her career as a writer and publisher while studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Université de Montréal. Throughout her career, Lalonde worked at the editorial boards of the magazine Situations, the journal Liberte and Maintenant. She authored historical plays and collections of poems and won the 1980 Prix Duvernay from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society. Lalonde was professor of the history of civilizations at the National Theatre School of Canada, served as president of both the Fédération internationale des écrivains de langue française and the Quebec Writers' Union, and was a member of the Order of Francophones of America. Her works from 1957 to 1977 are stored in the Montreal collection of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.
Linda Maria Baros is a French-language poet, translator and literary critic, one of the most powerful new voices on today's poetry scene . She lives in Paris, France.
Alain Bosquet, born Anatoliy Bisk, was a French poet.
Baroness Hélène van Zuylen van Nijevelt van de Haar or Hélène de Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, née de Rothschild was a French author and a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family. She collaborated on stories and poems with her lesbian partner Renée Vivien, sometimes under the pen name Paule Riversdale. An only child, the daughter of Salomon James de Rothschild, she was disinherited by her mother for marrying a Catholic, Baron Etienne van Zuylen of the old Dutch noble family Van Zuylen van Nievelt.
Marie Laberge is a Quebec actress, educator and writer.
Pierrette Micheloud was a Swiss writer and painter.
Bernadette Renaud is a Canadian writer living in the Montérégie region of Quebec.
Maggy de Coster is a Haitian-born writer living in France. Until 1987, she wrote under her birth name Margareth Lizaire and is also known as Margareth Lizaire de Coster.
Dominique Robert is a Canadian writer living in Quebec.
Vera Feyder is a Belgian writer and comedian living in France.
The Prix Renée Vivien is an annual French literary prize which is awarded to poets who write in French. Dedicated to the British poet Renée Vivien, the eponymous prize was first initiated in 1935, and continued intermittently by three different patrons, each with their own vision. First patron was Hélène de Zuylen de Nyevelt de Haar, followed by Natalie Clifford Barney in 1949 then more latterly and currently ongoing from 1994 with Claude Evrard. From each patron, the naming of the award after Renée Vivien was an act of remembrance. Nonetheless, women's poetry, feminist literature and the memories of romantic entanglement with the honoured poet have been inspiring on the first two patrons, who were more alike in their approach to awarding poets, while the heritage of Renée Vivien's style in contemporary poetry interested more Claude Evrard.
Jennifer Tremblay is a Canadian writer living in Quebec.
Denise Boucher is a Canadian writer living in Quebec.
Sophie Heidi Kam is a Burkinabe writer. Her work includes poetry, plays, and stories written in French. She is considered the first female playwright in Burkina Faso and has been honored at the National Grand Prix for Arts and Letters eight times.
Roxane Desjardins is a Canadian writer from Quebec. She is the editor and general manager of the publishing house, Les Herbes rouges.
