Tuesday, November 5, early morning, Versailles women’s prison. Around fifteen inmates of all ages are preparing to meet Abdellah Taïa, the Moroccan author of Bastion of Tears (Julliard), novel featuring the six sisters of the author born in Salé. As in 44 other penitentiary establishments, spread throughout mainland France and overseas, they volunteered (there are 600 of them in this 3rd edition of the Goncourt of prisoners) to judge the 16 novels on the first list of the jury from Drouant. They appear one after the other. To one of them, of Algerian origin, Abdellah retorts, with a big smile: “I am the enemy next door.” The tone is set, cheerful, cordial.
The questions abound: “Are you the character of Youssef?” “I loved your sisters, they are drama queens. Have they read your novel?” “Are you afraid of the homophobic gaze of certain inmates?” “You didn’t get lost in the structure of the book with all these dreams?” “Was the book a therapy ?” “Ultimately, is writing a gift of self?” The questions are straightforward, the answers long and sincere. Abdellah Taïa doesn’t play, we feel him moved and truly delighted to be there. It’s about his confidences, his considerations (for him, all problems come from marriage, and in particular from men, who continue to enslave women) and his writing advice: “Never give up, even if it takes time to know how to start, it is a question of obstinacy, and, above all, not talking about it to those around you, writing is a secret act.” Suddenly, at the turn of a sentence, the “confession” of its readers for a day: “We gave you a good rating.”
Verdict on December 17
Thursday, November 21, central prison in Poissy (reserved for long sentences). Impressed by the seriousness of the Versaillaises and the warmth of their group, we wanted to gauge the men we imagined, stupidly, to be less good readers. Nothing like that. On the agenda of the reading workshop, the vote of their trifecta and the road map of the two delegates for the regional deliberations taking place the following week. Two delegates making up an amusing heterogeneous duo (of whom we do not know the incriminated acts, as with all the convicted sworn) with, on one side, a very smart the university professor type, and on the other, a burly guy in a tank top with tattooed arms. Seven of the 17 regular participants have not read all the works, but unlike other literary prize jurors, they are not pretending.
Quality of writing, emotions transmitted, enrichment… the arguments exchanged demonstrate the conscientiousness of their exercise. Ultimately, three names come out of the hat: Sandrine Collette (their big favorite), for Madelaine before dawnpublished by Lattès, Gaël Faye, the author of Jacaranda (Grasset) and Olivier Norek, who signs Winter Warriors at Michel Lafon. National verdict on December 17 at the National Book Center in Paris, initiator with the Ministry of Justice (under the patronage of the Académie Goncourt) of this project which intends to “enhance the critical capacity of prisoners while introducing them to literary works “. Mission accomplished, it seems. And great competition to come for the young jurors of the Goncourt high school students.
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