Paul Gasnier, Goncourt detainees for a novel about the death of his mother caused by a biker

Journalist Paul Gasnier won the Goncourt prize for prisoners on Tuesday, December 16 with The collision (Gallimard), the story of the death of his mother in a bicycle accident caused by a young person who was backwheeling on a motorcycle, announced the National Book Center (CNL).

This prize rewards a book which was among the five finalists for the Goncourt des lycéens and is one of the successes of the bookstore sales of the September literary season. The collision is the first novel by Paul Gasnier, journalist for the show Quotidien (TMC).

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He recounts, without pathos, the fatal accident of his mother in 2012 in Lyon and the investigation carried out by the journalist to try to understand how such an event was made possible. “ By dissecting this family drama, Paul Gasnier reveals two destinies which are written in parallel, in the same city, and which ignore each other until the day they violently collide (…) A story in the form of a literary investigation which explores the strength of our convictions when reality undermines them, and the collective failings which create the irremediable », underlines the CNL in its press release.

« Ddiscover contemporary literary works »

Created in 2022, the Goncourt for prisoners is the result of the deliberations of 600 jurors in 45 penitentiary establishments throughout France, including overseas. The process ended with a final deliberation of ten detainees, men and women, meeting behind closed doors at the National Book Center in Paris.

The objective of this prize, supported by the Ministries of Culture and Justice under the patronage of the Académie Goncourt, aims to “ make detained people actors of a literary prize by promoting their critical capacity, while introducing them to contemporary literary works », According to the CNL.