Thélyson Orélien Awarded the Prix Strasbourg Espoir CIC for C’était ça ou mourir

The Prix Strasbourg unveiled the winners of its very first edition on August 25, 2026, recognizing four books from an initial selection of around fifteen titles. Among the winners is Haitian writer Thélyson Orélien, who received the Prix Strasbourg Espoir CIC for his first novel, “C'était ça ou mourir,” published on August 19, 2026, by Grasset.

The jury praised the work as a “poignant ode to all exiles in a fantastical and luminous journey of no return.” Already widely noticed even before receiving this distinction, the novel won the p