May our joy endure, Quebec writer Kevin Lambert’s latest book is in the running for the prestigious 2023 Goncourt Prize.
“It’s a great joy and also a kind of dizziness, the phone doesn’t stop. I didn’t expect that,” he said on the phone.
The young author from Saguenay learned on Tuesday morning that he was on the short list for the literary prize.
Goncourt’s list will be shortened to eight and four titles by the end of October, with the awards ceremony taking place in November.
“Let Our Joy Remain”, a committed novel that deals in great detail with the subject of architecture and addresses the excesses of the ruling class and gentrification in Montreal.
Kevin Lambert believes his latest novel will spark interest because of its highly political themes, but is pleased that this nomination also recognizes his writing style.
“The heart of my work as an artist is not just talking about certain topics, but talking about them in a certain way,” he explained.
“I think these awards are also about the question of style and the way things are written. »
Even when tackling social issues head-on, the author attempts to maintain a certain ambiguity in his writing “by creating a complex literary object that does not convey its message too easily or too clearly.”
“The arts need a certain opacity to be interesting,” he said.
May Our Joy Remain is also nominated for the December Prize.
This is Kevin Lambert’s third novel, following You’ll Love What You Killed and Querelle de Roberval, which were finalists and first selections for the Médicis Prize, respectively.
Political debate
Kevin Lambert’s latest book has caused quite a stir in recent months as it sparked a public spat between the author and Prime Minister François Legault.
Mr. Legault had reviewed the work on his social networks and the author had criticized him for not getting his message across in the middle of the housing crisis.
When asked about the possibility that his books could be used for political purposes, Kevin Lambert believes that is exactly what happened with the Prime Minister.
“That’s why I wanted to answer that. I didn’t want my book to help them feel good, feel good about themselves,” he claimed.
However, this controversy increased the sales of the author’s book.