About the event

Created on the occasion of the Centenary of Jean Monnet's birth , the European Books Festival of Cognac has been working since 1988 to promote European culture and literature. It aims to be a space where european authors and the audience may dialogue and meet.

Every year, in November, writers and journalists are invited to participate to round-tables and conferences about European cultural subjects.
The aim is to explore the cultural wealth of European heritage, to exchange with the audience about the multiple cultural identities which make Europe. 

crédit photo : Gérard Manuel

Several literary prizes have been created and were awarded :

1990 : "François 1er Prize", renamed "Cognac Prize of literary review" in 1988.
Entirely under the guidance of Hennessy Company, it is now called (since 2006) the "Hennessy Prize of literary journalism".
The names of the finalists are announced during the event, and the prize is given to the winner during the "Salon du livre", in Paris. It awards a literary reviewer, who must be francophone, either working for written press, radio or television broadcasts. The selection criteria are quality of writing, freedom of judgment and contribution to the discovery of new talents.

Award winners
2006 - Olivier Mony (Sud Ouest Dimanche)
2005 - Nathalie Crom (La Croix)
2004 - Sébastien Lapaque (Le Figaro)
2003 - Pascale Haubruge (Le Soir de Bruxelles)
2002 - Daniel Martin (Magazine littéraire, La Montagne)
2001 - Raphaëlle Rérolle (Le monde des Livres)
2000 - Marie-Laure Delorme (Journal du Dimanche)
1999 - François Busnel (L'Express, Vol de Nuit TF1, Lire)
1998 - Jean-Noël Pancrazi (Le Monde)

1995 : Jean Monnet Prize of European literature
Sponsored by the "Conseil général de la Charente", this prize rewards an author for a novel or a short stories collection written or translated into French, and selected by a jury of writers, critics and journalists.

2004 : Readers' Prize in the different libraries

2006 : Jean Monnet Prize of Young Europeans