The Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book Prize) is a French

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

created in 1948. It is awarded yearly in two categories: Novel and Essay for books translated into French.

Prix du Meilleur livre étranger — Novel

*2020:

Colum McCann Colum McCann is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and now lives in New York. He is a Thomas Hunter Writer in Residence at Hunter College, New York. McCann's work has been published in over 40 languages, and h ...

, for '' Apeirogon'' (Belfond) *2019ː

Christoph Hein Christoph Hein (; born 8 April 1944) is a German author and translator. He grew up in the village Bad Düben near Leipzig. Being a clergyman's son and thus not allowed to attend the Erweiterte Oberschule in the GDR, he received secondary educat ...

, for ''Glückskind mit Vater'' as ''L'ombre d'un père'' (Metaillié) *2018ː

Eduardo Halfon Eduardo Halfon (born 1971) is a Guatemalan writer. Career Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala City, moved to the United States at the age of ten, went to school in South Florida, studied industrial engineering at North Carolina State University, ...

, for ''Duelo'' as ''Deuils'' (Quai Voltaire) * 2017:

Viet Thanh Nguyen The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native lang ...

, for '' The Sympathizer'' as ''Le Sympathisant'' (Belfond) * 2016: Helen MacDonald, for ''

H is for Hawk ''H is for Hawk'' is a 2014 memoir by British author Helen Macdonald. It won the Samuel Johnson Prize and Costa Book of the Year award, among other honours. Content ''H is for Hawk'' tells Macdonald's story of the year she spent training a n ...

'' as ''M pour Mabel'' (Fleuve éditions) * 2015: Martin Amis, for ''

The Zone of Interest ''The Zone of Interest'' is the fourteenth novel by the English author Martin Amis, published in 2014. Set in Auschwitz, it tells the story of a Nazi officer who has become enamored with the camp commandant's wife. The story is conveyed by thre ...

'' as ''La Zone d'intérêt'' (Calmann-Lévy) * 2014: Drago Jancar, for ''To noč sem jo viel'' (''I Saw Her That Night'') as ''Cette nuit, je l’ai vue'' (

Éditions Phébus The éditions Phébus is a French publishing house established in 1976 by Jean-Pierre Sicre and taken over in 2003 by the . Catalogue Phébus publishes a catalog of French and foreign literature that is both contemporary (Julie Otsuka, Elif Sha ...

) * 2013: Alan Hollinghurst, for '' The Stranger's Child'' as ''L'Enfant de l'étranger'' (Albin Michel) * 2012: A. B. Yehoshua, for ''The Retrospective'' as ''Rétrospective'' * 2011: Alessandro Piperno, for ''Persecuzione. Il fuoco amico dei ricordi'' as ''Persécution'' * 2010: Gonçalo M. Tavares, for ''Aprender a Rezar na Era da Técnica'' (''Learning to Pray in the Age of Technique''), as ''Apprendre à prier à l’ère de la technique'', Viviane Hamy *2009: Karel Schoeman for ''Hierdie Lewe'' (''This Life''), as ''Cette vie'', Phébus, Paris *2008:

Charles Lewinsky Charles Lewinsky (14 April 1946) is a Swiss screenwriter and playwright (among others '' Fascht e Familie''), as well as a writer of novels and non-fiction, born and living in Zürich. Early life and education Born and raised in Zürich, Canto ...

, for '' Melnitz'' *2007: Joseph McBride, for '' Searching for John Ford'' (as ''À la recherche de John Ford'') *2006:

Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss (born August 18, 1974) is an American author best known for her four novels '' Man Walks into a Room'' (2002), ''The History of Love'' (2005), ''Great House'' (2010) and '' Forest Dark'' (2017), which have been translated into 35 l ...

, for ''

The History of Love ''The History of Love: A Novel'' is the 2005 novel by the American writer Nicole Krauss.The book was a 2006 finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and won the 2008 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing for fiction. An excerpt fro ...

'' (as ''L'Histoire de l'amour'') *2005:

Colm Tóibín Colm Tóibín (, approximately ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet. His first novel, '' The South'', was published in 1990. '' The Blackwater Lightship'' was shortlis ...

, for '' The Master'' (as ''Le Maître'') *2004: Carlos Ruiz Zafón, for '' The Shadow of the Wind'' (as'' L'Ombre du vent'') *2003: Peter Carey, for ''

True History of the Kelly Gang ''True History of the Kelly Gang'' is a novel by Australian writer Peter Carey, based loosely on the history of the Kelly Gang. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Booker Prize an ...

'' (as ''La Véritable Histoire du gang Kelly'') *2002:

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, his work has sold over thirteen million books in sixty-three lan ...

, for ''

My Name is Red ''My Name Is Red'' ( tr, Benim Adım Kırmızı) is a 1998 Turkish novel by writer Orhan Pamuk translated into English by Erdağ Göknar in 2001. Pamuk would later receive the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. The novel, concerning miniaturists ...

'' (as ''Mon nom est Rouge'') *2001:

Per Olov Enquist Per Olov Enquist, also known as P. O. Enquist, (23 September 1934 – 25 April 2020) was a Swedish author. He had worked as a journalist, playwright and novelist. Biography Enquist was born and raised in , a village in present-day Skellef ...

, for ''The Visit of the Royal Physician'' (as ''Le Médecin personnel du roi'') *2000:

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

, for '' American Pastoral'' (as ''Pastorale américaine'') *1999:

Péter Nádas Péter Nádas (born 14 October 1942) is a Hungarian writer, playwright, and essayist. Biography He was born in Budapest into a Jewish family, the son of László Nádas (originally Nussbaum) and Klára Tauber. After the takeover of the Hunga ...

, for ''

A Book of Memories ''A Book of Memories'' ( hu, Emlékiratok könyve) is a 1986 novel by the Hungarian writer Péter Nádas. The narrative follows a Hungarian novelist involved in a romantic triangle in East Berlin; interwoven with the main story are sections of a n ...

'' (as ''Le Livre des mémoires'') *1998:

Anna Maria Ortese Anna Maria Ortese (; June 13, 1914 – March 9, 1998) was an Italian author of novels, short stories, poetry, and travel writing. Born in Rome, she grew up between southern Italy and Tripoli, with her formal education ending at age thirteen ...

, for '' The Lament of the Linnet'' (as ''La Douleur du chardonneret'') *1997: António Lobo Antunes, for ''The Inquisitors' Manual'' (as ''Le Manuel des inquisiteurs'') *1996: Jonathan Coe, for '' What a Carve Up!'' as ''Testament à l'anglaise'' *1995: Joan Brady for '' Theory of War'' (as ''L’Enfant Loué'') *1994: Graham Swift, for ''Ever After'' (as ''À tout jamais'') *1992:

Jane Urquhart Jane Urquhart, LL.D (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her e ...

, for '' The Whirlpool'' as ''Niagara'' *1990: Tim O'Brien, for ''

The Things They Carried ''The Things They Carried'' (1990) is a collection of linked short stories by American novelist Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers fighting on the ground in the Vietnam War. His third book about the war, it is based upon his ex ...

'' as ''À propos du courage'' *1988: Margarita Karapanou, for '' The sleepwalker'' (as ''Le Somnambule'') *1985:

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

, for ''

Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

'' as ''La Honte'' *1984:

Vasily Grossman Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (russian: Васи́лий Семёнович Гро́ссман; 12 December (29 November, Julian calendar) 1905 – 14 September 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Born to a Jewish family in Ukraine, then pa ...

for ''

Life and Fate ''Life and Fate'' (russian: Жизнь и судьба) is a novel by Vasily Grossman, written in the Soviet Union in 1959 and published in 1980. Technically, it is the second half of the author's conceived two-part book under the same title. Alt ...

'' (as ''Vie et Destin'') *1983: Hector Bianciotti, for ''L'amour n'est pas aimé'' *1973: John Hawkes, for '' The Blood Oranges'' as ''Les Oranges de sang'' *1969:

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

, for '' One Hundred Years of Solitude'' as ''Cent ans de solitude'' *1966: Peter Härtling, for ''Niembsch'' as ''Niembsch ou l'Immobilité'' *1965: John Updike, for '' The Centaur'' as ''Le Centaure'' *1956: Alejo Carpentier, for ''The Lost Steps''/''Los pasos perdidos'' as ''Le Partage des eaux'' (Galimard) *1950:

Miguel Ángel Asturias Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; October 19, 1899 – June 9, 1974) was a Nobel Prize-winning Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Asturias helped establish Latin American literature's contribution to mainstream W ...

, for '' El Señor Presidente'' as ''Monsieur le Président''

Prix du Meilleur livre étranger — Essay

*2020: Daniel Mendelsohn, for ''Trois anneaux. Un conte d’Exil'' (Flammarion) *2019ː Wolframm Eilenberger, for ''Zeit der Zauberer'' as ''Le temps des magiciens'' (Albin Michel) *2018: Stefano Massini, for ''Qualcosa sui Lehman'' as ''Les Frères Lehman'' (Éditions du Globe) *2017:

Philippe Sands Philippe Joseph Sands, KC (born 17 October 1960) is a British and French writer and lawyer a11 King's Bench Walkand Professor of Laws and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London. A specialist in ...

, for ''East West Street. On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity'' as ''Retour à Lemberg'' (Albin Michel) *2016: Samar Yazbek, for ''Bawwābaẗ arḍ al-ʿadam'' as ''Les Portes du néant'' (Stock) *2015:

Christoph Ransmayr Christoph Ransmayr (born 20 March 1954) is an Austrian writer. Life Born in Wels, Upper Austria, Ransmayr grew up in Roitham near Gmunden and the Traunsee. From 1972 to 1978 he studied philosophy and ethnology in Vienna. He worked there as ...

, for ''Atlas eines ängstlichen Mannes'' as ''Atlas d'un homme inquiet'' (Albin-Michel) *2014: Göran Rosenberg, for ''Une brève halte après Auschwitz'' (Seuil)Drago Jancar et Göran Rosenberg, prix du meilleur livre étranger 2014
''Livres Hebdo''. Retrieved 2 December 2014 *2013: Erwin Mortier, for ''Psaumes balbutiés. Livre d'heures de ma mère'' (Fayard) *2012: David Van Reybrouck, for '' Congo. Une histoire'' (Actes Sud) *2011:

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

, for ''Récits et essais (tome 2)'' (Seuil) *2010:

Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and p ...

, for ''Vous partez déjà ? Ma vie avec Harold Pinter'' *2009: Pascal Khoo Thwe, for ''Une odyssée birmane'' (Gallimard) *2008: William T. Vollmann, for ''Pourquoi êtes-vous pauvres ?'' (Actes Sud). *2006: Diane Middlebrook, for ''Ted Hughes & Sylvia Plath, histoire d'un mariage'' (Phébus) *2005: Mikhail Shishkin, for ''Dans les pas de Byron et Tolstoï'' (Noir sur Blanc) *2004:

Azar Nafisi Azar Nafisi ( fa, آذر نفیسی; born 1948)Following eighth grade, Nafisi's parents sent her to England for schooling from 1961 to 1963. Nafisi 2010, chapter 8, pp. 69-70; chapter 13, p. 115 is an Iranian-American writer and professor of Englis ...

, for ''Lire Lolita à Téhéran'' (Plon) *2003: Hella S. Haasse, for ''La Récalcitrante'' (Seuil) *1999: W. G. Sebald, for ''Les Anneaux de Saturne'' (Actes Sud) *1998: Verena von der Heyden-Rynsch, for ''Écrire la vie, trois siècles de journaux intimes féminins'' *1996: Michael Holroyd, for ''Carrington'' (Flammarion) *1993:

Predrag Matvejević Predrag Matvejević (7 October 1932 – 2 February 2017) was a Bosnian and Croatian writer and scholar. A literature scholar who taught at universities in Zagreb, Paris and Rome, he is best known for his 1987 non-fiction book ''Mediterranean: A ...

, for "Bréviaire Méditerranéen" (Fayard) *1977: Mario Praz, for ''La Chair, la mort et le diable'' (Denoël) *1974: Abram Tertz (=

Andrei Sinyavsky Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (russian: Андре́й Дона́тович Синя́вский; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965. Sinyav ...

), for ''Une voix dans le chœur'' (Seuil) *1966:

Jerzy Kosinski Jerzy is the Polish version of the masculine given name George. The most common nickname for Jerzy is Jurek (), which may also be used as an official first name. Occasionally the nickname Jerzyk may be used, which means "swift" in Polish. Peopl ...

, for ''L'Oiseau bariolé'' *1965:

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

, for ''Autobiographie'' (Gallimard) *1964: Robert-Marie Grant, for ''La Gnose et les origines chrétiennes '' (Seuil) *1963: Oscar Lewis, for '' Les Enfants de Sanchez'' (Gallimard)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger Meilleur Livre Etranger Translation awards Awards established in 1948 1948 establishments in France