Chaired by Cécile Guilbert, surrounded by Laure Adler, Michel Frizzy, Charles Danzig, Arnaud Vivian, Dominique Noguez, Patricia Martin and Amélie Nothomb, the jury of the December price was awarded today to the Lutetia, its price-to-Michaël Ferrier for Francis, the portrait of an absent , published in the excellent collection “The Infinite” to Gallimard, led by Philippe Sollers. He carries it in front of Elisabeth de Fontenay, winner of the Femina test for Gaspard of the night (Stock) and Francesco Rapazzini for A summer venetian (Bartillat).
The price for which the endowment had been suspended in 2017 (the year in which Grégoire Bouillier had been selected for File M, vol. 1, published by Flammarion), in the meantime the estate of his patron Pierre Bergé to be resolved, therefore, find colors with a nice cheque of € 20,000 for the winner.
Narrative of grief
Installed in Tokyo for years, where he teaches literature, Michaël Ferrier is the author of several essays and novels, including Tokyo: Small portraits of the dawn (2004), Sympathy for the phantom (2010) and Mémoires d’outre-mer (2015), prix Franz Hessel, all published in the collection “Infinity”.
the Tomb for his friend, François Christophe, swept along with Bahia, his daughter of twelve years, by a wave on The island of la Graciosa, in the Canary islands on December 26, 2013, this story is one of grief, of course, of the suffering and the impossible separation. But also a way to revive the story of a friendship, years of boarding school at the lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, up to years at Radio France, where Francois Christophe was in charge of the fiction, through the trips to Japan, Africa, and the common passion for cinema.
For this magnificent tribute to the lost friend, Michaël Ferrier receives with this price December a just consecration and the opportunity to see his talent recognised by a wider audience.
