Antoine de Caunes chairs the first-ever Barbès Prize for Literature

The Left Bank no longer owns the privilege of hosting literary awards. This week, Brasserie Barbès (opened in 2015 by Jean Vedreine and Pierre Moussié), the very first edition of the Barbès Prize, a literary award aimed at rewarding authors whose work has music as its main subject. As we know, music is anchored in the 18th arrondissement’s identity, which is too often despised by a cultural scene that is reluctant to new offerings. For this first edition, the Barbès Prize offered welcomed a well-respected personality as its President, Antoine de Caunes, along with a jury of specialists in literature and music. These include journalists Alice Pfeiffer and Laurianne Melierre, and writers of all generations, from the young Frederika Amalia Finkelstein to Yannick Haenel. Among the 7 books (and their authors) in competition, it was finally “Jewish Gangsta: at the origins of the goon movement”, by Karim Madani, that grabbed the victory, as well as €2000 grant.