The Musée Guimet announced the winners of its eighth annual Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature during a ceremony held on 4th June 2025 at the museum’s Jean-François Jarrige Auditorium in Paris. Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has received the prize for his novel “Les sept lunes de Maali Almeida” (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida), already the laureate of the Booker Prize 2022, marking another significant international recognition for his work.

The novel, originally written in English and translated into French by Xavier Gros, was published by Calmann-Lévy. The award comes 18 months after its publication in France, highlighting the enduring impact of Karunatilaka’s distinctive narrative about a war photographer murdered during Sri Lanka’s civil war who embarks on a mission in the afterlife.

This year’s competition featured a particularly strong field, with the fiction category including works from across Asia. The shortlisted novels represented the diversity of contemporary Asian literature: Yan Lianke’s “L’Enfant de Tianhu” from China (published by Picquier), Sang Young Park’s “S’aimer dans la grande ville” from Korea (La Croisée), and Karunatilaka’s winning entry from Sri Lanka.

The awards ceremony, presided over by Laure Adler—author, journalist, and producer serving as jury president—also recognised excellence in graphic storytelling. The comics category featured Chinese artist Liu Yun’s “Le printemps prochain” (Ça et Là) and two Korean works: Keum Suk Gendry-Kim’s “Demain est un autre jour” (Futuropolis) and “Hana” by Lee Dong-Eun and Jeong Yi-yong (Ça et Là).

For the first time in the prize’s history, the Inalco Student Prize for Manga was created in partnership with the Guimet Museum, reflecting the growing recognition of manga as a significant literary form. The winning title receives an endowment of 2,500 euros from the museum. The inaugural manga prize considered five works, including Kazumi Yamashita’s “Land” (Mangetsu), Arare Matsumishi’s “Le vendeur du magasin de vélo” (Le lézard noir), and Kazuyoshi Takeda’s “Peleliu Gaiden” (Vega Dupuis).

The establishment of the manga category represents a collaboration between two prestigious French institutions dedicated to Asian culture and languages. The 2025 student jury comprised five students from Inalco’s Japanese studies department, ensuring that the selection process remained rooted in academic expertise whilst embracing contemporary literary forms.

Karunatilaka’s victory continues his remarkable literary trajectory. His debut novel “Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew” previously won the Commonwealth Book Prize and DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, establishing him as one of the most significant voices in contemporary Sri Lankan literature. The Booker Prize-winning “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” has now added French literary recognition to its international acclaim.

The ceremony concluded with readings performed by Clément Bresson of the Comédie Française, followed by a cocktail reception. The event underscored the Émile Guimet Prize’s mission to celebrate the richness and diversity of Asian literature translated into French, whilst expanding its scope to acknowledge new forms of artistic expression through its innovative manga category.

The prize, established in 2017, continues to serve as a vital bridge between Asian literary traditions and French literary culture, recognising works that demonstrate exceptional literary merit whilst fostering cultural exchange between East and West.

By Emelie Bouzaine