Fondation Prince Pierre of Monaco: the 103rd Conference Season Celebrates 75 Years of the Prix Littéraire
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Prix Littéraire Prince Pierre of Monaco and the 25th anniversary of the Bourse de la Découverte, the Fondation Prince Pierre presents its 103rd conference season, reaffirming its long-standing commitment to contemporary creation and to dialogue between the arts.
The programme, held mainly in Monaco at 6:30 p.m. at the Théâtre des Variétés, brings together leading writers, philosophers, filmmakers and composers, many of whom are prize winners or members of the Foundation’s advisory boards. Through lectures, readings and conversations, the season highlights the vitality of the international cultural scene and the central role of literary prizes as spaces for reflection and transmission.
The season opens on 19 January with composer Samuel Andreyev, a member of the Foundation’s Music Council, who will deliver a lecture devoted to the relationship between formal rigour and creative spontaneity. A journey through music and the visual arts, questioning the notion of artistic freedom as something achieved through discipline.
On 26 January, filmmaker Nicolas Philibert will be in conversation with Jacques Kermabon on the theme of documentary staging, exploring the increasingly porous boundary between documentary and fiction. Organised in partnership with the Institut audiovisuel de Monaco, the discussion will address key ethical and aesthetic issues in documentary filmmaking.
On 16 February, writer Pascal Quignard, winner of the Prix Littéraire Prince Pierre in 2000, will offer a poetic and literary meditation on Pyrame et Thisbé, evoking literature as a “path of voices”, a space of escape and revelation of the soul.
The exploration of the act of writing continues on 9 March with Jean-Noël Pancrazi, recipient of the 2023 Prix Littéraire, who will reflect on writing as a journey through intimate, geographical and stylistic territories, moving between the novel, autobiographical narrative and a deep relationship with readers.
On 16 March, David Thomas, winner of the 2009 Bourse de la Découverte, will offer a clear-eyed and personal reflection on the meaning of literary prizes in a writer’s career, analysing their symbolic, media and human value through examples drawn from his own experience.
On 27 March, Dominique Bona, member of the Académie française, winner of the 2010 Prix Prince Pierre and a member of the Literary Council, will invite the audience to discover the hidden lives that run through her biographies—from Romain Gary to Berthe Morisot—leading to a more intimate account of her own personal and literary journey.
The programme then moves beyond Monaco, to Paris on 27 April, with Maurizio Serra, who will explore the fascinating and complex theme of writing in more than one language, through major figures of international literature and his own experience as a bilingual author.
The season will conclude on 12 June with a keynote lecture by philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne, winner of the 2024 Prix de la Principauté, organised in partnership with the Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco. An internationally renowned thinker, Diagne will offer a reflection inspired by his humanism of translation and intercultural dialogue.
Free admission, with advance booking recommended at
👉 www.fondationprincepierre.mc
