Hôtel Belles Rives Announces Fist Selection Of Nominees For
Prix Fitzgerald 2025
Selection Includes Two Pulitzer Prize Winners in Fiction
Winner to be Announced on the Centennial of The Great Gatsby
Hôtel Belles Rives where F. Scott Fitzgerald once lived
From the eponymous bar at Hôtel Belles Rives, where history, glamour and cosmopolitan style mingle, the 2025 Prix Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Prize) jury is pleased to announce the nominated novels following its initial deliberations. The official announcement of the winner will be unveiled on Friday June 14, 2025, a particularly significant date which will mark not only the 14th edition of the Prize, but also the centennial of the publication of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.
Since its creation, the Fitzgerald Prize has established itself as a benchmark for literary distinction, celebrating authors each year whose talent reflects Fitzgerald’s timeless aesthetic and modernity. Created in 2011 by Marianne Estène-Chauvin, President of the Francis Scott Fitzgerald Academy and family owner of the iconic Hôtel Belles Rives in Juan-les-Pins, this literary prize recognizes a work for its elegant writing and its view of the world, in the tradition of the famous American writer.
This first selection offers different range of works, but all share a search for meaning, and an exploration of the world. The authors selected invite their readers on an exciting and demanding journey, true to the spirit of the Fitzgerald Prize.
The award ceremony will take place a few days before the arrival of summer, at Hôtel Belles Rives on the Côte d’Azur, where Fitzgerald himself found inspiration, and lived for years as he wrote Tender is the Night. Previous winners include renowned authors such as Jonathan Dee, Jeffrey Eugenides, Jay Mc Inerney, Christopher Bollen and William Boyd. In 2023, acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino came in person to accept the Fitzgerald Award for his essay Cinema Speculations. Last year, author Joyce Carol Oates was honored for her novel 48 Clues to My Sister’s Disappearance.
NOVELS AND NOMINEES IN COMPETITION (U.S. Versions)
NOVELS AND NOMINEES IN COMPETITION (French Versions and Publisher)
THE JURY MEMBERS
In mid-February, the jury, chaired by Bertrand de Saint Vincent, selected the above-mentioned novels for the competition. A further session, scheduled for mid-May, will determine the finalist for the Prize. The jury is made up of personalities with a passion for literature:
Bertrand de Saint Vincent, deputy editor of Le Figaro, journalist (Tout Paris) and literary columnist (Prix Louis-Hachette), published Nocturne Français in 2022, a collection of almost 80 chronicles exploring today’s cultural microcosm, as well as Une certaine désinvolture (Edition du Rocher) in November 2023. In 2024, Bertrand de Saint-Vincent won the French Academy’s short story prize for the same title.
Daphné Roulier-De Caunes, print and broadcast journalist (Les Grands Entretiens on LCP and Radio Classique). From 2023 to 2024, she presented Maman, j’ai arrêté l’avion on LCP-Assemblée nationale, a program on the ecological transition. In 2023, she lends her voice to the documentary Les effrontées : le cinéma au féminin on France 2. Every Saturday, she hosts the famous Les femmes majeures program on Radio Classique.
Marie-Dominique Lelièvre, French print journalist (JDD) and writer (Le N°5 de Chanel, biographie non autorisée), author of novels and iconic biographies (Saint Laurent, mauvais garçon in 2010, Brigitte Bardot, plein la vue in 2012, and Françoise Hardy: Étoile distante in 2022).
Éric Neuhoff, film critic and writer, journalist for Le Figaro and columnist for Le Masque et la plume, Prix Renaudot essai 2019 for (Très) Cher cinéma français and Prix Interallié in 1997 for La petite Français; published Rentrée littéraire (Albin Michel) in 2023. In January 2025, he published his latest book, Pentothal, describing his rebirth after a terrible accident at the age of 22.
François Armanet, journalist, editor-in-chief at L’Obs, author of several films (Haut les filles) and books (Les Minets), the latest written with Élisabeth Quin (Le détail qui tue. Petit précis de style de Proust à Rihanna). In 2024, his novel Vous savez quoi? Le roman d’un journaliste was published by Éditions La Table Ronde. The book compiles interviews with iconic figures such as Lou Reed, Jean-Luc Godard, John Le Carré and Joan Baez, offering a rich panorama of the international cultural scene.
Fréderic Beigbeder, writer (Un roman français, Oona et Salinger; Confessions d’un hétérosexuel -légèrement dépassé, Dictionnaire amoureux des écrivains français d’aujourd’hui (Plon) in 2023), literary critic, screenwriter, TV host, film director and creator of the Prix de Flore, for which he chairs the jury. In 2023, he launches the podcast Conversation chez Lapérouse, a series of literary interviews. In 2025, he publishes Un homme seul, a story in which he explores the life of his father, Jean-Michel Beigbeder.
Christophe Ono dit Biot, journalist, deputy editorial director of the weekly Le Point and writer (Plonger, Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française; La Minute antique and Trouver refuge, 2022). In July 2024, he led a lecture at the launch of the 6ᵉ edition of the Prix Swiss Life à 4 mains 2024-2025, highlighting innovative photographic projects.
Hélène Fillières, French actress (Mafiosa), screenwriter and director (Une histoire d’amour, Volontaire; Une confession, 2023). She later translated a series of works by Dorothy Parker for Christian Bourgois. In 2024, she wrote the screenplay for the film Petites mains and directed the TV movie Un père idéal with Eddy Mitchell and Laurent Gerra.
ABOUT HÔTEL BELLES RIVES
Hôtel Belles Rives is an Art Deco gem that stands above the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean. F. Scott Fitzgerald penned Tender is the Night here, and the property is a testament to the breezy extravagance of a bygone era yet reveals a modern design, offering 43 recently renovated rooms and suites. A gastronomic Mediterranean experience awaits at La Passagère, the onsite, one-star Michelin restaurant led by culinary maestro, Aurélien Véquaud. Classic cocktails can be found at the newly renovated Bar Fitzgerald, named for the property’s original resident. The hotel’s private beach features the Belles Rives Beach Restaurant, the Water Sports Club, and the jetty that’s home to the hotel’s private boat dock. Extend that sun kissed, blissed-out feeling with an innovative treatment by luxe Swiss skincare house, Valmont onsite at its namesake beauty corner. The property—with an ownership bloodline dating back to the 1930s—is now helmed by the fourth generation, the 42-year-old, Antoine Chauvin-Estène who is imparting an egalitarian and refreshing approach to this emblematic riviera classic.