Indian-origin Nathacha Appanah’s La Nuit au Cœur wins Goncourt Choice of India 2026
Nathacha Appanah’s La Nuit au Cœur has been awarded the Goncourt Choice of India 2026. Chosen by a jury of Indian students in New Delhi, the French-Mauritian author’s novel explores intimate partner violence.
Hyderabad: La Nuit au Coeur (Night in the Heart) by Nathacha Appanah has been awarded the Goncourt Choice of India 2026. The winner was announced by a jury of Indian students following a day of deliberations held in New Delhi, in the presence of distinguished guests including Priya Paul, Chairperson of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Limited and Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India.
The prize honours a work of French literature from the shortlist of the prestigious Goncourt Prize. The winning title is subsequently translated into at least one Indian language. The jury members formally announced the winner for the 2026 edition: La Nuit au Coeur (Night in the Heart) by Nathacha Appanah.
The Goncourt Choice of India, supported by Apeejay Surrendra Group Director Priti Paul through the Apeejay Trust, aims to foster cultural exchanges and strengthen ties between Indian readers and French authors.
In La Nuit au cœur (Night in the Heart, 2025), Nathacha Appanah examines the unbearable enigma of intimate partner femicide, when the dark night takes the place of love, through the intertwined stories of three women who are victims of their partner’s violence. The book won the prestigious Prix Femina in France and has now become the Goncourt Choice of India.
Nathacha Appanah is a prize-winning French-Mauritian novelist of Indian origin. Born in Mauritius, she is descended from Telugu-speaking Indian indentured labourers who immigrated to the island. Her writing often addresses themes of identity, displacement, and the memory of her Indian heritage in a Mauritian context.
Her debut novel, The Rocks of Gold Dust (Les Rochers de Poudre d’Or, 2003) traces the journey of Indian indentured labourers to Mauritius, and Washed-Out Memory (La Mémoire délavée, 2023) recounts the story of her grandparents.