The Cezam Prix Litteraire Inter CE is a literary prize which was established in France in 1997. Its judging panel of more than 3600 readers who meet in groups to discuss, critique and individually rate the books, makes it one of the largest adjudicated readers' prizes for literature in the world. It is organised by the French national network of ''comités d'entreprise'' (committees in workplaces of public and private enterprises which organise social and cultural events locally and nationwide).
The prize brings together readers from all over France and from all walks of life who are connected through their workplace or community. They are registered and organised in groups by local librarians, supported by 40 independent bookstores and the network of 360 ''comités d'entreprise''. A shortlist of ten novels is selected each year from medium and small scale French publishing houses by the Cezam Prix Litteraire organisers and the prize has a history of discovering new authors, such as
Claudie Gallay
Claudie Gallay (born 1961) is a French writer. In parallel to her work as a writer, she works part-time as a teacher.
Bibliography
* 2001: ''L'Office des vivants'', ,
* 2002: ''Mon amour, ma vie'', Éditions du Rouergue,
* 2004: ''Seule Veni ...
, before they become bestsellers.
The jury panels meet in workplaces, libraries, bookstores, high schools, colleges and even penitentiaries. Author events are organised across France, with shortlisted writers from around the world being invited to visit the various regions to speak to and answer questions from the groups of readers. Each reader then awards ratings on several criteria for each of the books that they have read and these ratings are gathered and counted to determine the winning book. There are two levels of the prize: the votes are first counted at a local level to determine a winner for each of 25 regions then the votes are aggregated to determine the overall national prize-winner.
The 2011 winner was announced on Saturday 15 October in Strasbourg as Scottish author
Peter May Peter May may refer to:
*Peter W. May, American businessman
*Peter May (cricketer) (1929–1994), English Test cricketer
*Peter May (writer)
Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. H ...
for his book
The Blackhouse
''The Blackhouse'' is a suspense thriller, ''New York Times'', 16 November 2012< ...
(L'Ile des Chasseurs d'Oiseaux).
Origin and aims of the prize
The prize was organised initially as a local prize in Nantes and Angers, but grew through the network of Cezam to encompass France. It exists to promote reading, literacy and literature, not only by bringing groups of readers together to exchange thoughts with each other, but also by giving them the chance to meet and speak to the authors of the books.
Previous winners
* 1997:
Alain Monnier Alain may refer to:
People
* Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Alain (surname)
* "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein
* Alain, a standard author abbreviatio ...
''Un amour de Parpot''
* 1998/9:
Georges-Jean Arnaud
Georges-Jean Arnaud (July 3, 1928 – April 26, 2020) was a French author.
Biography
Arnaud was born in Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, Camargue, Gard. He was first published in 1971 in the science fiction magazine ''Anticipation'' from the French publis ...
Thierry Maugenest
Thierry is a French language, French male given name, derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic "Theodoric". It is the cognate of German language, German "Dietrich (disambiguation), Dietrich" and "Dieter (disambiguation), Dieter", English langu ...
''Venise.net''
* 2006:
Bertina Henrichs
Bertina Henrichs (born 1966, Frankfurt am Main) is a German writer who writes in French and lives in Paris.
Life
Bertina Henrichs studied literature and film techniques in Berlin and France. With a thesis on writers who have adopted a foreign la ...
''La joueuse d'échecs''
* 2007:
Maïssa Bey
Maïssa Bey is the nom de plume of Samia Benameur (born 1950), an Algerian educator and writer.
Life
She was born in Ksar Boukhari and teaches French in Sidi-Bel-Abbès in western Algeria. In 1996, she published her first novel ''Au commenc ...
Peter May Peter May may refer to:
*Peter W. May, American businessman
*Peter May (cricketer) (1929–1994), English Test cricketer
*Peter May (writer)
Peter May (born 20 December 1951) is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. H ...
, ''L'ile des chasseurs d'oiseaux'', (''
The Blackhouse
''The Blackhouse'' is a suspense thriller, ''New York Times'', 16 November 2012< ...
'')
* 2012: Dan Waddel, for ''Code 1879''
* 2013: Hélène Gestern, for ''Eux sur la photo''
* 2014:
Gilles Vincent
Gilles Vincent (born 11 September 1958, Issy-les-Moulineaux) is a French-language writer, author of detective novels, a collection of short stories, a novel and two thrillers for adolescents.
Works
*2012: ''Parjures'', Jigal Polar
*2013: ''Dje ...
, for ''Beso de la muerte''
* 2015:
Jean-Paul Didierlaurent
Jean-Paul Didierlaurent (2 March 1962 – 5 December 2021) was a French writer.
Career
He is best known for the novel ''The Reader on the 6.27'' (''Le liseur du 6h27'', 2014), translated into English by Ros Schwartz and published by Pan Book ...