The Société des gens de lettres de France (SGDLF; ; ) is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, and

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

. It is a private association recognised in France as an establishment in the public interest by decree of 10 December 1891. Members of the society must be writers whose work has been published by a

publishing house Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

(

self-published Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...

works do not qualify). It is directed by a volunteer committee consisting of twenty-four writers, and is currently led by the novelist Alain Absire.

Purpose

It is the only writer-run writers' association in France with the expressed aim of defending the moral rights, the legal interests, and the social and legal status of all writers. It protects, considers, and proposes new rules and arrangements for the benefit of the community of writers. The SGDLF offers social and legal assistance to its members. It has facilities for the deposit of completed works, helping writers guarantee their rights as original author in case of a legal dispute. Each year it organises diverse cultural events and awards a number of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

75,000 prizes in recognition of published works.

Headquarters

The SGDLF occupies the 18th-century neoclassical Hôtel de Massa on rue de Faubourg-Saint-Jacques in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory"; named after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, ...

. It is building with the strange history of having been moved stone by stone in 1928, from its original site on the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

to its present site in the garden of the Observatoire de Paris.

Prizes of the ''Société des gens de lettres''

Spring session

*Prizes recognising the entire oeuvre of an author **'' Grand prix de littérature de la SGDL'', founded in 1947 **'' Grand prix de poésie de la SGDL'', founded in 1983 **''Prix Paul Féval de littérature populaire'', founded in 1984 *Prizes recognising a single work **''Grand Prix SGDL du roman'', founded in 1947 **''Grand Prix SGDL de la nouvelle'', founded in 1984 **''Grand Prix SGDL du livre d'Histoire / Essai'', founded in 1986 **''Grand Prix SGDL du livre Jeunesse'', founded in 1982 **''Prix de poésie Charles Vildrac'', founded in 1973 **''Grand Prix SGDL de l'œuvre Multimédia''

Fall session

*Prizes recognising the entire oeuvre of an author **''Grand Prix Poncetton de la SGDL'', founded in 1970 **''Prix de Poésie Louis Montalte'', founded in 1992 *Prizes recognising a single work **''Grand Prix Thyde Monnier de la SGDL'', founded in 1975 **''Bourses Thyde Monnier'', since 1975 **''Bourses Poncetton'' *Prizes for translation **''Prix Halpérine-Kaminsky Consécration'', since 1993 **''Prix Halpérine-Kaminsky Découverte'', since 1993 **''Prix Gérard de Nerval'' **''Prix Baudelaire'' **''Prix Maurice-Edgar Coindreau''

External links