Winner
Le pays des autres(The Country of Others)(Gallimard, 2020)
The citrange is a hybrid fruit combining the disparate characteristics of the orange and the lemon
As World War II winds down, a French woman named Mathilde falls in love with a Moroccan man named Amine, bridging the gulf between their home countries of France and Morocco, colonizer and colonized. But when Mathilde moves to Morocco, she finds herself being subjugated to the will of others as foreigner, woman, and wife. This book presents the experience of living as a woman in a male-dominated society—as well as a colony deprived of its sovereignty—through exquisite descriptions and powerful prose.
Leïla Slimani
Born in Morocco and educated in Paris, Leïla Slimani earned her bachelor’s degree from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) before working as a journalist. She began writing fiction in 2013 and made her debut in 2014 with 『Adèle (French title: Dans le jardin de l’ogre)』. Her second novel, 『Lullaby (French title: Chanson douce)』, won the 2016 Prix Goncourt and received wide acclaim from critics and press, as well as the reading public. In 2017, the president of France named Slimani his special representative for the French language in recognition of her elegant and captivating prose. That same year she published 『Sex and Lies (French title: Sexe et mensonges)』, a nonfiction book compiling the stories of Moroccan women. Her next literary project was a trilogy consisting of 『The Country of Others (French title: Le pays des autres, 2020)』, 『Watch Us Dance (French title: Regardez-nous danser, 2022)』, and 『J’emporterai le feu (only published in French, 2025)』. In 2023, she chaired the International Booker Prize’s panel of judges, cementing her reputation in the world of letters.
Sun-Jin HWANG
Sun-Jin HWANG majored in archaeology and art history at Paris Nanterre University and received her master’s degree in 20th and 21st century art history. She is currently focused on bringing the worlds of art and literature to a wider audience by delivering lectures on art history and translating literature. Following her translation of 『Le pays des autres(The Country of Others)』 in 2020, she is currently working on her next translation.
Leïla Slimani’s novel 『Le pays des autres(The Country of Others)』 unravels the tangled threads of modern-day diaspora through the troubled life of a woman married to a man from a former colony. This postcolonial landscape encompasses a curious mixture of political tensions, clashes between feudal traditions and modernity, and contradictory gender roles, each leaving its marks on the body. The hardships borne by that body, passed down from mother to daughter, gradually generate the energy of rebirth. In that process, readers are struck by the bodily changes wrought by visceral experience. The gentle ripples of awakening rising from the depths of the soul bear witness to the mystery of existence.
-Note from judging Committee-
