French Heritage Society (FHS) is pleased to announce the third edition of its French Heritage Society Book Award, an initiative launched in 2017 in celebration of the organization’s 35th Anniversary. The award ceremony will take place on Thursday, April 11th, 2019 at a private club in Manhattan. The evening will commence at 6:00 p.m. with a cocktail reception, followed by the award ceremony, and will culminate with a celebratory dinner.
Through its French Heritage Society Book Award, FHS will recognize and honor a nonfiction work of literary, scholarly or aesthetic distinction that illuminates for the general public either an important element of French cultural or historical patrimony or the considerable and noteworthy influence France, its citizens and its culture have had in shaping American history, thought and culture. Recognized works address their topic and themes with originality and exemplary literary style. The nominated works must be written in, or translated into, English and have been published in America in the three years preceding the annual awarding of the prize. Past recipients include “Finding Fontainebleau” by Thad Carhart and “The Other Paris” by Luc Sante.
The four shortlisted books for the 2019 French Heritage Book Award are: “The Great Nadar: The Man Behind the Camera” by Adam Begley, “Left Bank: Art, Passion and the Rebirth of Paris, 1940-50” by Agnes Poirier, “A Literary Tour de France: The World of Books on the Eve of the French Revolution” by Robert Darnton, and “Proust’s Duchess” by Caroline Weber.
The French Heritage Society Book Award’s esteemed jury is comprised of: Anne Poulet, Director Emerita of The Frick Collection; Bruno Racine, author and former director of the Pompidou Center and of the National Library of France; and Elaine Sciolino, contributing writer and former Paris bureau chief for The New York Times.
The winning author will be announced on the invitation to the award ceremony in mid-February and will receive a $5,000 cash prize and an award goblet designed by Thomas Jefferson while he served as Minister to France. During the event, the winner will be interviewed by Cheryl Hurley, followed by an audience Q&A session. Cheryl Hurley is the immediate past president of the Library of America.
FHS is a nonprofit American organization created in 1982 that includes 10 chapters in the U.S. as well as one in France. Through various activities and educational programs, FHS is dedicated to the preservation, restoration and promotion of French heritage throughout the U.S. and France. The central mission of FHS is to ensure that the treasures of our shared French architectural and cultural heritage survive in order to inspire future generations to build, dream, and create.
Over the past 36 years, French Heritage Society has given 586 restoration grants to châteaux, churches, historic monuments and gardens in every department in France as well as to properties in the U.S. that reflect France’s historic influence for a combined total of $21.2 million (including required matching funds). In addition, the organization has selected and supported 479 university student who have crossed the Atlantic to participate in our Student Exchange Program.
For more information about FHS, please visit http://frenchheritagesociety.org/ or contact our New York office at (212) 759-6846 or at [email protected].