The Prix Renaudot unveiled its second selection on 7 October 2026: 15 titles in all, nine novels and six essays. Two Cameroonian writers, Hemley Boum and Osvalde Lewat, remain on the fiction list.
Hemley Boum is shortlisted for "Nos vies sauvages" (Gallimard). The novel looks at how political deadlock weighs on individual lives, through the story of a lawyer, Ndolo Elimbi.
Osvalde Lewat is selected for "Un corps indocile" (Philippe Rey), her second novel, published in August. It follows Deffo, a young tailor living in Paris who is forced to return to his home country and takes a job in a textile factory. Her first novel, "Les Aquatiques", won the Prix Kourouma in 2022.
Both authors were already on the first selection, announced on 3 September. Other titles still in contention include novels by François-Henri Désérable and Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès.
The third selection will be announced on 28 October, and the winners on 3 November at the Drouant restaurant in Paris, just after the Prix Goncourt.
