French literary prize, one of the most important in France. It was first conceived in 1867 by the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, authors of Journals, and created in 1903 by a bequest of Edmond that established the Académie Goncourt, a literary society of 10 members (none of whom may also be a member of the Académie Française) whose chief duty is to select the winner of the award. Along with a now-inconsiderable 50 francs, the prize confers recognition on the author of an outstanding work of imaginative prose each year; novels are preferred. The prize is awarded each November. Among the writers who have won the Prix Goncourt are Marcel Proust (Proust, Marcel), André Malraux (Malraux, André), Elsa Triolet, Simone de Beauvoir (Beauvoir, Simone de), Romain Gary (Gary, Romain), André Schwarz-Bart, Michel Tournier (Tournier, Michel), and Marguerite Duras (Duras, Marguerite).