The Tropez literary prize that shakes up codes… and genres

A 23-year-old writer, an incandescent novel, a jury of insiders and a legendary hotel. In Saint-Tropez, the Prix La Ponche 2025 has chosen trouble and dazzle to embody its fourth edition.

A literary victory over the sea

On Friday May 23, 2025, the Hôtel de La Ponche returned to its past as an intellectual haven. It was here, between calm seas and memories of Simone de Beauvoir and Boris Vian, that the Prix La Ponche jury crowned Carnes,Esther Teillard ‘s first novel published by Pauvert. The setting: a bar nicknamed Saint-Germain-des-Prés-La Ponche, the golden light of late afternoon, and an effervescence of ideas driven by figures such as David Foenkinos, Sophie Fontanel and Nathalie Azoulai.

“Carnes”, a work of flesh and shadows

No southern folklore here, but dense prose between Marseille and Paris, where the women invented by Esther Teillard fascinate as much as they disturb. Born on the Catalan beach, half-vulgar half-divine, her “cagoles” become powerful archetypes of a complex femininity. Violence is poetic, the ugly becomes sublime, and every scene exudes an almost tactile energy.

Arriving in Paris to attend the Beaux-Arts in Cergy, Carnes ‘ narrator discovers a different kind of venom: that of the more muted elite. The tension between capital and province is explored without Manichaeism, in a language that is both raw and precise.

A prize that asserts its uniqueness

The Prix La Ponche, founded by Lisa Vignoli, does not seek consensus. It rewards audacity, ambiguity and texts that leave a mark. Through Carnes, it celebrates that paradoxical modernity where literary luxury can coexist with the harshness of a raw look at youth.

The reward doesn’t stop at a cheque or a statuette: Esther Teillard will benefit from a writing residency at the hotel. An opportunity to develop a second novel in the Mediterranean sunshine.

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