Hôtel La Ponche's literary prize is back. Every year, this in-house award crowns a first novel. Last year, Esther Teillard's La Déraison took home €3,000 and a Tropezian stay. This year, submissions run until 31 May.
No agent, no publisher needed. Just send your unpublished manuscript, a bio, and a five-line summary max. The jury, chaired by writer Jérôme Garcin, reads all summer. Winner announced in October, when the village quiets down.
It's a discreet prize, miles from the Parisian circus. But it matters. Because it comes from here, from a hotel that once hosted Cocteau, Picasso, Deneuve. Because they actually read the manuscripts. And because it bets on the unknown: no connections, no strings, just a text.
So if you've got a first novel in a drawer, now's the time. Application form's online on the hotel's site. Deadline 31 May, midnight. After that, door's closed.
