Médicis Prize 2026 awarded in Paris

The Médicis Prize 2026 was awarded on Monday, November 2, at the restaurant La Méditerranée in Paris. The event recognized outstanding works in literature and essays, with a focus on French-language publications.

Philippe Vasset honored for novel about power lines

Philippe Vasset received the prize for his novel Dans les grandes lignes, published by Flammarion. The novel follows a journey through France along high-voltage power lines, reflecting on the landscape and infrastructure of the country.

Vasset succeeds Emmanuel Carrère

Vasset, a 54-year-old author and journalist, succeeds Emmanuel Carrère, who won the prize in 2025 for his novel Kolkhoze (P.O.L). The jury, chaired by novelist Pascale Roze and including writers such as Marie Darrieussecq, Anne Garréta, and Andreï Makine, selected Dans les grandes lignes over six other works, all of which were written by women.

Foreign novel and essay categories recognized

In the foreign novel category, Eva Baltasar was awarded the prize for Déclin et fascination (Verdier), translated into French by Annie Bats. In the essay category, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo was recognized for Une éclaircie (Stock), published in the collection Ma nuit au musée.

Special recognition and controversy

A special prize was awarded to Richard Zénith for Pessoa, l’œuvre-vie (Seuil), a 1,200-page biography of the Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa. Meanwhile, the novel C’était ça ou mourir (Grasset) by the Canada-Haitian Thélyson Orélien was accused of being largely written by artificial intelligence but was not selected by the jury.

Vasset reflects on the award

Vasset expressed that he was particularly happy to be awarded "for a book as improbable," noting that his publisher had been "skeptical" when he presented his project to them. The novel Dans les grandes lignes was reviewed by journalist Jean-Marie Durand, who described it as a work that illuminates the path to a "dreamed destination that leads only toward his own interiority."

Other finalists highlighted

The ceremony also highlighted other finalists, including Nous aussi (Actes Sud) by Anne Godard, Décolorer sa fille (Les Intranquilles) by Lucie Berard, Tuer le vieux (Flammarion) by Daria Marx, and Mais que fait ce sang sur le pull de Jennifer ? (P.O.L) by Lucie Rico.