Moroccan-Born Author Wins Top Literary Prize

Moroccan-French author Leila Slimani received the French literary prize Prix Goncourt for her novel "Chanson douce" (Sweet Song). (REUTERS)

Morocco-born writer Leila Slimani has won France’s most prestigious literary prize, becoming only the 12th woman to be awarded the Prix Goncourt in 113 years.

GRAPHITTI NEWS, with multiple agencies filings, report continues:

The prize jury, meeting in a chic Parisian restaurant as per a century-old tradition, rewarded the 35-year-old Franco-Moroccan author and journalist Thursday for her second novel, “Chanson Douce.”

She won the award for her thriller Chanson douce (Sweet song), a tale of a rogue nanny who murders the two children she is supposed to look after. The book, written as a long flashback that starts with the murder of two small children by their nanny in Paris, tells the story leading to the tragic crime.

Ms Slimani, who lives in France, is only the 12th woman to have won the Goncourt in its more than a century-long history.

Ms Slimani gets only €10 euros (US$11; £9) in prize money, but her win guarantees a boost in sales of 450,000 copies or more, placing it instantly among the year's top bestsellers, AFP adds.

Another female author, Yasmina Reza, won France’s Prix Renaudot literary award Thursday for her thrilling crime novel, “Babylone.”

Reza, a 57-year-old French playwright, novelist and essay writer, has won many other prizes, including two Tony Awards for her plays “Art” (1998) and “God of Carnage” (2009).

Leila Slimani's winning book begins with the words: "The baby is dead" AFP

Brief Bio

Leïla Slimani (born 3 October 1981) is a French writer and journalist of Moroccan ancestry. In 2016 she was awarded the Prix Goncourt for her novel Chanson douce.

Slimani was born in Rabat, Morocco and left at the age of 17 for Paris to study political science and media studies at the Sciences Po. After her graduation she temporarily considered a career as an actress but began to work as a journalist for the magazine Jeune Afrique. In 2014 she published her first novel Dans le jardin de l’ogre, which two lyears later was followed by the psychological thriller Chanson douce. The latter quickly turned into a bestseller with over 76,000 copies printed within a year even before the book was awarded the Prix Goncourt.

Slimani holds a French and a Moroccan citizenship.