The Prix du Premier Roman and Prix du Premier Roman Étranger have announced their shortlists for the 2026 literary season. The jury, led by writer and editor Charles Dantzig, chose eight French-language debut novels and four foreign-language works translated into French. The selections were made at the brasserie Chez Francis, located at place de l'Alma in Paris. A more refined list of finalists will be revealed on October 6, 2026. The Prix du Premier Roman features eight first novels in French, several of which have already received awards this season. Marie Colombe’s Le Bruit du melon qui explose was awarded the Envoyé par La Poste 2026 prize, and Thélyson Orélien’s C'était ça ou mourir won the Prix Première Plume. The selected books are: Le Bruit du melon qui explose by Marie Colombe (Au diable vauvert), Joseph dans la nuit by Olivier Grondeau (L'Iconoclaste), Paradisi Gloria by Élise Lespade (Le Cercle ouvert), Tuer le vieux by Daria Marx (Flammarion), C'était ça ou mourir by Thélyson Orélien (Grasset), Les serments trahis by Šeila Pohara (Gallimard), Le dernier présage de Victoria Woodhull by Maxim Schwartz (Philippe Rey), and Shanghai, cinq heures quarante by Ada Walter (Calmann-Lévy). The Prix du Premier Roman Étranger has selected four books translated from English. These include La Couleur qui vous plaira by Lao-Canadian poet Souvankham Thammavongsa, which won the Giller Prize 2025 in Canada. Other selected titles are Les Brebis égarées by Madeline Cash, translated by Alexandre Civico and Barbara Tajan (Denoël), Entre amis by Hal Ebbott, translated by Laure Manceau (Actes Sud), and Fille paumée et perroquet by Sara Levine, translated by Charles Bonnot (La Croisée). La Couleur qui vous plaira is also translated by Nathalie Bru (La Croisée). The jury for the 2026 awards includes Charles Dantzig, Pauline Dreyfus, Pierre Gestède, Philippe Jaenada, Maylis de Kerangal, and Maud Ventura. Annick Geille, who won the Prix du Premier Roman in 1981 for Portrait d'un amour coupable (Grasset), serves as the honorary president. In 2025, the Prix du Premier Roman was awarded to Jean-Christophe Cavallin for Kong Junior (Seuil), and the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger went to American author Phillip B. Williams for Chez nous, translated from English by Charles Recoursé (Robert Laffont).