Booksellers name Thélyson Orélien and Laura Kasischke winners of the Livres Hebdo prize
The 22nd edition of the Palmarès Livres Hebdo des libraires singled out two novels from the 461 titles of this year's rentrée littéraire.
French booksellers have chosen C'était ça ou mourir by Thélyson Orélien (Grasset) and Baignade surveillée by Laura Kasischke, translated from English by Céline Leroy (Gallimard), as the winners of the 2026 Palmarès Livres Hebdo des libraires, according to Livres Hebdo.
The prize, now in its 22nd edition, is awarded by booksellers rather than a jury of critics, and is drawn from the full field of the rentrée littéraire — this year 461 novels, per Livres Hebdo.
No further details on the jury's deliberations, the novels' subjects or additional prizewinners in the palmarès were included in the announcement.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
