India, April 7, 2025: The Choice of India edition of the Goncourt Prize, one of the most prestigious French literary prizes, has been awarded to ‘Jacaranda’, a French-language novel by Franco-Rwandan writer Gaël Faye, published in 2025 by the French publishing house Grasset.

Jacaranda is a poignant work that explores the profound link between history, the quest for identity and belonging to one’s land. Set in Rwanda, a country scarred by the 1994 genocide, the novel not only revisits the tragic past, but also highlights the changes underway, including judicial reforms and social transformations. Through a fluid and emotional narrative, Faye invites us to experience moments of hope, pain and resilience. The story is deeply moving, immersing us in the soul of a people undergoing reconstruction, while echoing the immense potential of the country’s future.

Writer Gaël Faye said: “I’m happy to know that this story resonated with the jury of the Indian chapter of the Goncourt prize. My novel ‘Petit Pays’ had already received an exceptional welcome during my trip to India in July 2020, especially during the Jaipur Literature Festival. I carry that cherished memory in my heart. I’m glad that this relationship is continuing with ‘Jacaranda,’ which is like another piece in the same puzzle: a vast human story of exile, belonging, silences, shadows, and of the light.”

Singer-songwriter Gaël Faye is also the author of the phenomenal first novel Petit pays (Small Country) (Grasset 2016, Prix Goncourt des lycéens) and several other albums.  Jacaranda has been awarded the famous Renaudot Book Prize 2024 and The Goncourt Prize of Germany.

Following the announcement, the French Ambassador to India, H.E. Mr Thierry Mathou, said: “I am proud to witness the continued success of the “Choix Goncourt de l’Inde” programme, which offers students across India the unique opportunity to engage with contemporary French literature. This initiative is instrumental in making French literary works accessible, addressing the complexities of distributing French books in such a vast and diverse country. To support this endeavour, the French Institute in India procures around 270 books, which are made available to the students and their professors, thereby ensuring widespread access to contemporary French literature.”

The Prix Goncourt is awarded each year to the author of “the best and most imaginative prose work of the year”. The Goncourt Choice of India was created for Indian francophone students who love literature. It is affiliated with the Académie Goncourt. For its fourth (current) edition, the Indian jury was composed of students from nine Indian universities – The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Pondicherry University, University of Mumbai, Savitribai Phule Pune University, University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Rajasthan, Madurai Kamaraj University, Banaras Hindu University as well as students from the Alliances Françaises network.

Over six months, the jury read the four books shortlisted for the Goncourt Prize in their original language, and discussed them with their teachers and classmates.

The four books shortlisted for the Goncourt Prize in their original French language, were:

• Madelaine avant l’aube, Sandrine Colette (JC Lattès)

• Jacaranda, Gaël Faye (Grasset)

• Archipels, Hélène Gaudy (L’Olivier)

• Houris, Kamel Daoud (Gallimard)

A series of online sessions were offered to them to get to know France’s most prestigious literary prize with the President of Goncourt Academy – the French writer Philippe Claudel – and to understand the publication journey behind the four titles.