On Thursday, November 13, the legendary private club of Parisian nightlife awarded the 4th Castel Prize to Vanessa Schneider for her novel “La peau dure” (Thick Skin), published by Flammarion. It thus honors an author who “would have been right at home at Jean Castel’s table.”
Vanessa Schneider, novelist and journalist, succeeds Grégoire Bouillier, winner in 2024 for “Le syndrome de l’Orangerie,” a novel about the painter Jean Monet, also published by Flammarion. Some authors are lucky, but so are some publishers!
“If I had told my father that I had won the Prix Castel, he would surely have frowned and said, ‘Castel, like the nightclub? But that’s good, you love to dance!’ I have tried to present this brilliant and dark, magnificent and terrible father to you in this book, in my own way, with all his ambiguities, but also with love. And I thank you for embracing this father, who was unlike any other! I began writing when he died three years ago. I can think of no better way to celebrate him than to be here in this temple of celebration, where so many beautiful minds have passed through. Let’s drink, dance, and laugh! Long live literature, long live life. I love you all!“ said Vanessa Schneider with emotion and humor on the dance floor podium, after thanking the jury, Castel, her editors, her friends, and her children.
This “young prize,” co-founded in 2022 by Carole Chrétiennot and the owners of Castel, represented during the evening of November 13 by Grégoire Chertok, the investment banker, has established a joyful ceremony. First, the jury members enjoyed posing in front of the red-lacquered Parisian facade at 15 Rue Princesse in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The air was mild for November. Cameras flashed to capture the family photo. Reflecting the spirit of the prize, the jury was a trendy, Parisian mix of ten flamboyant personalities from the worlds of literature, journalism, cinema, and interior design. A fine line-up consisting of Emma Becker, Claire Berest, Vincent Daré, Etienne Gernelle, Eva Ionesco, Marc Lambron, Justine Lévy, Jean-Noël Pancrazi, Abnousse Shalmani, and Gaël Tchakaloff.
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Featured photo: In front of Castel’s red lacquered facade, the cheerful jury with Emma Becker, Claire Berest, Vincent Darré, Etienne Gernelle, Eva Ionesco, Marc Lambron, Justine Lévy, Jean-Noël Pancrazi, Abnousse Shalmani, Gaël Tchakaloff, and the winner of the 2025 Castel Prize, Vanessa Schneider (3rd from right) ©Photo Edouard Nguyen
