Prix Femina

The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine La Vie heureuse (today known as Femina). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury, although the authors awarded are not limited to women. The winner is announced on the first Wednesday of November each year.

In 1919, the Hachette Group proposed to the Allied countries to create a similar prize. Great Britain accepted and the first meeting of the jury was held on June 20, 1920. The prize was called the Femina - Vie Heureuse Prize and was awarded from 1920 to 1940 to English writers. Among the winners were E. M. Forster in 1925 and Virginia Woolf in 1928. In 1920 Lady Northcliffe, wife of Alfred Harmsworth, proposed to create a prize for French writers called the Northcliffe prize. Among the winners were Joseph Kessel in 1924, Julien Green in 1928 and Jean Giono in 1931.The last meeting was held on April, 10th,1940.

The archives of the English Committee are held by Cambridge University Library

There are three categories: Prix Femina, Prix Femina Essai, Prix Femina Étranger (foreign novels).

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