Image source: RTL.Fr
The French writer and novelist Nicholas Matteo won the “Prix Goncourt” of 2018, the highest and most prestigious Francophone literary award, for his novel “And Their Children After Them“, issued by Actes Sud following a fierce competition held to discuss the other three short-listed novels, namely Shaqeeq Ar-Rouh (Intimate Companion of the Soul“, written by the native Senegalese poet David Diop, the novel of Saada Wa Abeed “Lords and Slaves”, written by Paul Kriviak, and the novel of Sheta’ As-Sokht “Winter of Discontent“, written by Thomas B. Rivery.
Matteo depicts, in his social and psychological novel, his teenage period spent in the 1990s and tracks the lives of characters living in a secluded valley in the Lorraine region, France, where most of its inhabitants work in mines, unveiling the deep details of young people who are alcoholic drunken and listening to music due to boredom, and wishing to get out of their harsh and boring city for them as young people full of vitality and activity.
The said Prix Goncourt does not give financial reward, but it has a big moral value generating high earning for both the author and publisher. Moreover, the Prix Goncourt-winning novel sells at least half a million copies and is about € 3 million in sales in the weeks following the publication of the Prix Goncourt-winning novel. Furthermore, translation copyrights are sold in several languages during the first few months following winning the Prix.