- Founded: 1903
- Awarded by: Académie Goncourt (10 members)
- When: First Monday in November
- Prize: €10 (symbolic), but generates massive sales
- Significance: The most prestigious French literary prize
- Notable winners: Proust (1919), Malraux (1933), Beauvoir (1954), Duras (1984), Houellebecq (2010), Ernaux (alternative Goncourt)
- Controversies: Often accused of favoritism, commercial considerations
Prix Femina
- Founded: 1904 (in response to all-male Goncourt jury)
- Awarded by: Jury of 12 women writers
- When: Early November
- Significance: Major prize with feminist origins
- Notable winners: Colette (1920), Beauvoir (1943)
Prix Renaudot
- Founded: 1926
- Awarded by: Journalists and critics
- When: Same day as Goncourt (consolation prize tradition)
- Significance: Often more daring choices than Goncourt
- Notable winners: Céline (1932), Sartre refused (1964)
Prix Médicis
- Founded: 1958
- Focus: Innovative and experimental literature
- Categories: French novel, foreign novel, essay
- Notable winners: Duras (1958), Sollers (1961)
Prix de l'Académie française
- Multiple prizes: Grand Prix du Roman, Grand Prix de Poésie, etc.
- Awarded by: The French Academy
- Significance: Conservative but prestigious
- Monetary value: Substantial (€10,000-45,000)