Moroccan Author Zineb Mekouar was selected in the initial round of the 2024 Jean Giono Prize with her story “Souviens-toi Des Abeilles” (Remember the Bees), under the renowned French publishing house Gallimard.
The Jean Giono Prize, sponsored by the Jan Michalski Foundation, recognizes the best works of fiction in French which exhibit a high degree of imaginative writing.
The judging panel, chaired by Paule Constant, includes Moroccan writer Tahar Benjelloun; the two representatives are from the Paris-based Goncourt Academy, Morocco’s Press Agency (MAP) noted. The Jean Giono Prize ceremony 2024 will be held on November 14 in Paris.
“Souviens-toi Des Abeilles” combines an ecological theme with an ode to rural life and tolerance. The narrative subtly relates the story of a 10-year-old boy, Anir, who discovers the natural world and the life of bees through his grandfather in the world’s oldest collective apiary, the Rucher du Saint, situated on a mountain slope in the High Atlas.
Mekouar was born in Casablanca in 1991 and has been based in Paris since 2009. Her first novel, entitled “La Poule et Son Cumin (The Hen and its Cumin), received recognition as a finalist for the 2022 Goncourt First Novel Prize and was featured on the Academy of Goncourt’s “Summer 2022 Top Picks” list.
Non-profit Jan Michalski Foundation was established in 2004 by Vera Michalski-Hoffmann in memory of her late husband, Jan Michalski. Since its inception, the foundation has been dedicated to supporting literature and the arts across the world. It offers financial support in the form of literary grants, residencies, and awards. The foundation also supports several cultural initiatives, including the Jean Giono Prize.