A French speciality, the new literary season will take place as it does every year despite the upheavals linked to the Covid-19 crisis. Indeed, the publications planned during the confinement had to be postponed to this autumn, or even next spring.
The number of new novels expected between mid-August and the end of October for the new literary season will be close to last year's number. A total of 511 new novels will be published, compared with 524 last year (figures Weekly Books/Electre Data Services ). Note that the number of French authors will even be higher in 2019, rising from 336 to 366. On the other hand, the number of first novels is down sharply: 145 titles, compared to 188 last year. In a context of crisis, publishers have chosen to bet on safe values.
Literary awards, important fall dates for printers
The autumn literary prizes and exponential print runs are of course the hallmark of the back-to-school season, with printing plants running at full capacity. Although all the dates for the selection and proclamation of the prizes have not yet been set due to the confusion caused by the health crisis, some appointments have already been made:
Proclamation of the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française - October 29th
- Proclamation of the femina prize - November 3rd
- Proclamation of the renaudot prize - November 4th
- Proclamation of the Prize December - 5 November
- Proclamation of the Prix Médicis - November 6
- Proclamation of the Prix Goncourt - November 10th
- Proclamation of the Prix Goncourt des lycéens - 26 November
