French novelist ruled out of major prize after antisemitic drawings emerge

Yann Moix, 51, says he is ashamed of his student magazine work but judges of the prestigious Prix Goncourt feel he has courted too much controversy

Judges of France’s top literary award, the Goncourt prize, have said they decided not to include popular author Yann Moix’s autobiographical novel Orléans on their shortlist after the emergence of antisemitic drawings and texts made by Moix in his 20s.

The offending works, published in a student magazine, were uncovered by L’Express in late August, shortly after the publication of Moix’s novel, which depicts childhood abuse he allegedly suffered himself. The French author, now 51, who won the Goncourt for his first novel in 1996, initially only admitted responsibility for the drawings before acknowledging he had also written the texts.

Continue reading...