The first edition was announced in September 2023 by Her Majesty The Queen and Madame Brigitte Macron during the King and Queen’s State Visit to France. The Entente Littéraire Prize (Prix de l’Entente Littéraire) is inspired by the Entente Cordiale, the 1904 agreement between the UK and French governments that improved bilateral relations. The idea to establish a UK-France literary prize was agreed by Prime Minister Sunak and President Macron at the UK-France bilateral Summit in Paris in March 2023.
For its second edition in 2026, the Prize will recognise works of literary fiction whose translation was published between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. Two prizes of €8,000 will be awarded:
- one to a work originally written in French, translated into English and published in the United Kingdom;
- one to a work originally written in the United Kingdom, translated into French and published in France.
Each prize will be shared equally between the author and the translator, in recognition of the creative contribution of literary translation.
The 2026 Prize will be judged by an Anglo-French jury chaired by celebrated authors Philippe Claudel and Elif Shafak. Joining them on the panel will be acclaimed author Leïla Slimani and literary journalist Augustin Trapenard, alongside celebrated author Ken Follett and brilliant bilingual poet Hollie McNish.
Each jury member will nominate two translated titles in their reading language in order to establish a longlist of twelve books: six titles translated from French into English selected by the British panel, and six titles translated from English into French selected by the French panel.
Members of each panel will read the books in translation before selecting a shortlist of six finalists — three in each category — to be announced in Autumn 2026.
The winners of the second edition of the Entente Littéraire Prize will be announced at a ceremony to be held in Paris in November 2026.
