Emmanuel carrère Awarded the 2024 Medici Prize for “kolkhoze”
PARIS - Author Emmanuel Carrère has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Prix Médici for his novel Kolkhoze, announced today by the académie Française. The prize, one of FranceS most significant literary honors, recognizes a work of extraordinary quality and originality. Carrère’s Kolkhoze explores his complex relationship with his mother, a figure central to his life and work, and delves into themes of family, memory, and identity.
The Prix Médici, established in 1958, has a history of spotlighting groundbreaking authors and works that often go on to achieve international acclaim. This award marks a significant moment in carrère’s distinguished career, which already includes the Prix Femina for Snow Class (1995) and the Prix Renaudot for Limonov (2011). Carrère previously reflected on literary prizes, noting in le Monde in 2014, “I don’t have the impression of doing things that are exceptionally transgressive, rather things that are very acceptable and which are generally very well accepted… It turns out that, apparently, the Goncourt Academy doesn’t like it.”
Kolkhoze has already garnered attention for its intimate and unflinching portrayal of familial bonds. Published August 20, 2025, by Le Monde, the novel is described as Carrère becoming “his mother’s son.” The Prix Médici is expected to further elevate the book’s profile and introduce it to a wider readership.
