The Cezam Prix Litteraire Inter CE is a literary prize which was established in France in 1997. Its judging panel of more than 3600 readers who meet in groups to discuss, critique and individually rate the books, makes it one of the largest adjudicated readers' prizes for literature in the world. It is organised by the French national network of comités d'entreprise. The prize brings together readers from all over France and from all walks of life who are connected through their workplace or community. They are registered and organised in groups by local librarians, supported by 40 independent bookstores and the network of 360 comités d'entreprise. A shortlist of ten novels is selected each year from medium and small scale French publishing houses by the Cezam Prix Litteraire organisers and the prize has a history of discovering new authors, such as Claudie Gallay, before they become bestsellers. The jury panels meet in workplaces, libraries, bookstores, high schools, colleges and even penitentiaries. Author events are organised across France, with shortlisted writers from around the world being invited to visit the various regions to speak to and answer questions from the groups of readers. Each reader then awards ratings on several criteria for each of the books that they have read and these ratings are gathered and counted to determine the winning book. There are two levels of the prize: the votes are first counted at a local level to determine a winner for each of 25 regions then the votes are aggregated to determine the overall national prize-winner. The 2011 winner was announced on Saturday 15 October in Strasbourg as Scottish author Peter May for his book The Blackhouse.
Origin and aims of the prize
The prize was organised initially as a local prize in Nantes and Angers, but grew through the network of Cezam to encompass France. It exists to promote reading, literacy and literature, not only by bringing groups of readers together to exchange thoughts with each other, but also by giving them the chance to meet and speak to the authors of the books.
