Abdellah Taïa Wins the Prix de Flore

We are very pleased to announce that Semiotext(e) author Abdellah Taïa has won the 2010 Prix de Flore for his latest book, Le jour de Roi. This literary prize, created in 1994 at the Café de Flore and judged by a panel of journalists, is given to a promising young author for a work of literature that shows originality and a modern sensibility.

Past recipients have included Michel Houllebecq, Virginie Despentes, and Pierre Mérot. The prize only applies to French-language literature; however, the author does not have to be French. Bruce Benderson, also one of our Semiotext(e) authors, was the first non-French author to receive the prize, in 2004, for his novel Autobiographie érotique (released in English as The Romanian: A Story of Obsession). Though Abdellah Taïa is Moroccan, he has lived in Paris for the last eight years.

The laureate of the Prix de Flore, in addition to a monetary prize, is entitled to drink a glass of the white wine Pouilly-Fumé at the Café de Flore every day for a year. The laureate's name is engraved on the glass.

Last year Semiotext(e) published Abdellah Taïa's Salvation Army, a coming-of-age novel that tells the story of Taïa's life with complete disclosure. Look for more  Semiotext(e) translations of Taïa's successful novels available through the MIT Press in the future.