Kamel Daoud wins the Prix Goncourt 2024 for “Houris”.

On Monday, the Goncourt jurors met at the Drouant restaurant in Paris to announce their winner. Kamel Daoud won this prestigious literary prize in the first round with six votes.

Literary courage

Kamel Daoud’s victory for his novel Houris published by Gallimard is an act of courage on the part of the jury. Indeed, Algeria banned Gallimard’s participation in the Salon International du Livre d’Alger because of the same novel. Houris tells the harrowing story of Aube, a survivor of Algeria’s black decade (1991-2002), a period marked by extreme violence between the army and Islamists, resulting in up to 200,000 deaths. Aube, pregnant and mutilated, speaks to her unborn daughter, revealing the horrors she has endured. Daoud’s approach encourages us to break the amnesia imposed by the 2005 “Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation”.

A powerful, incantatory language

Journalist and author Kamel Daoud, born in 1970 in Mostaganem, covered these traumatic events during his career at Le Quotidien d’Oran, starting in 1994. He declares that ” journalism is essential, but it is never enough to tell the story of a war “. This phrase resonates throughout Houris, a work described as a “polyphonic song”, exploring the pain of an Algeria marked by silence and oblivion. Despite criticisms of a style sometimes deemed repetitive and emphatic, the author’s narrative force and commitment remain undeniable.

Recognition for Daoud and Gallimard

The Prix Goncourt comes as a relief to Gallimard after several recent defeats. In 2022 and 2023, Gallimard lost in the final to Flammarion and L’Iconoclaste respectively. This victory with Houris restores the reputation of the publisher, whose new literary season left much to be desired.

Kamel Daoud is no stranger to controversy. He was already the target of a fatwa for his previous novel Meursault, contre-enquête. With Houris, he goes even further, denouncing the injustice suffered by women and questioning Algeria’s collective memory. He highlights article 46 of the 2005 charter, underlining the repression of those who dare to evoke the national tragedy.

This recognition goes beyond the literary world. The Goncourt 2024 for Houris highlights a painful past and crucial contemporary issues, echoing recent events and struggles for freedom of expression, such as that of the young Afghan student.

Also read: Emma Becker: At the heart of “Evil Pretty