Congratulations to John Boyne on being awarded the Prix Femina Étranger 2025 for THE ELEMENTS.
John said of the win: ‘I was thrilled to win the Prix Femina Étranger for LES ÉLÉMENTS. French readers are some of the most discriminating in the world. They value literature so highly and recognise its value to the world. Looking at the list of former laureates, I feel honoured to find my name placed among them. I owe huge thanks to my translator, Sophie Aslanides, and my publisher JC Lattès.’
He succeeds Alia Trabucco Zerán, who won the award in 2024 for Propre. This marks John’s second major literary award in France this Autumn, following the Prix du Roman FNAC in September.
The Prix Femina Étranger is a French literary prize established in 1985 as a counterpart to the original Prix Femina, which was created in 1904. While the original prize honours the best French-language novel of the year, the Prix Femina Étranger specifically recognises the best foreign novel translated into French. The award reflects the jury’s commitment to literary excellence and to promoting diverse voices in world literature, and it has become one of France’s most respected international literary honors.
In The Elements, John Boyne explores, through four interwoven stories, the invisible forces that shape lives and questions our relationship to guilt and innocence, to wounds and resilience. With limpid and spellbinding prose, Boyne probes the elements — water, earth, fire, and air — and human beings to reveal their contradictions and fragilities.