Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde


The Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde is an annual award given to the best literary work in French or French Creole from the Caribbean and the Americas.

History

The Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde was founded at the initiative of the Carbet journal in 1990. It aims to promote creole writing and to contribute to a better understanding of the processes of creolization. It rewards works depicting the unity and diversity of the cultures of the Caribbean and the Americas. It is awarded annually in December. As of 2013 it is worth €5000.
Between 1994 and 2006, the prize was administered by Gérard Delver and the Association Tout-Monde de Guadeloupe. From 2007, it has been administered by the Institut du Tout-Monde.
The prize ceremony rotates between Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Île-de-France.

Rules

Works in any genre are acceptable to compete for the award. They should have been published between 1 October of the previous year and 30 September of the year of award. They should have been written either in French or Creole, or translated into these languages. The deadline for submission is 1 October of the year of award.
The jury meets in camera in December, and the announcement of the award is made the same month.

Jury

From inception till 2011, the prize was managed by Edouard Glissant, who selected and presided over the jury.
From 1989 to 2009,:fr:Maximilien Laroche|Maximilien Laroche was one of the members of the jury.
In 2011, Patrick Chamoiseau was elected as the president of the prize.
The 2013 jury comprised:
  1. Ernest Pépin, Jury President
  2. Patrick Chamoiseau
  3. Alexandre Rodolphe
  4. Michael Dash
  5. Samia Kassab-Charfi
  6. Diva Damato Barbaro
  7. Miguel Duplan
  8. Lise Gauvin
  9. Nancy Morejon
  10. Romuald Fonkoua
  11. Évelyne Trouillot

    Controversy

In 2009, Edouard Glissant and the award committee announced that they would give the prize not to a book or an oeuvre of an author, but rather for a "lifetime of work, possibly to the work of the spirit", and awarded it to an anti-colonial civil servant, Alain Plénel. The decision raised questions about the suitability of a politician for a literary award.

Winners

YearAuthorWorkEnglishRef.
1990Antan d'EnfanceChildhood
1991L'odeur du caféAn Aroma of Coffee
1992Pawol bwa sèk
1993La Grande Drive des espritsThe Drifting of Spirits
1994L'allée des Soupirs
1995Les Urnes Scellées
1996For collected works
1997DesiradaDesirada
1998For collected works
1999La récolte douce des larmes The Farming of Bones
2000O fugitif
2001For collected works
2002FrankétienneH'éros-chimères
2003MonchoachiFor collected works
2004Mr. Potter Mr. Potter
2005Sinon l'enfance
2006Le trou de souffleur and L'Encre est ma demeure
2007L'Acier
2008, For collected works
2009For anti-colonialism and humanism
2010La mémoire aux Abois
2011L'homme qui aimait les chiens The Man Who Loved Dogs
2012La Havane, année zéro
2013Parabole du failli
2014Faire l'aventure
2015Le Rêve de William Alexander Brown
2016For collected works
2017By the rivers of Babylon
2018Là où les chiens aboient par la queue