France's top book prize: no lovers allowed

France's most prestigious literary award, the Prix Goncourt, or Goncourt Prize, abruptly changed its eligibility rules on Tuesday after a nepotism scandal. Effective immediately, no relatives, spouses, partners, or lovers of a member of the jury can be considered for the prize that counts Marcel Proust and Simone de Beauvoir among its former winners.

The decision came on the heels of a revelation that Francois Noudelmann, whose novel was on the longlist, is in a romantic relationship with prize juror Camille Laurens.

The pair tried to argue that they were unmarried and lived in separate cities, and thus Laurens would not be prejudicial in favor Noudelmann's work.

At first the Goncourt Academy agreed, saying that the relationship was not substantial enough reason to exclude a worthy entry. However, after mounting public pressure, they announced the rule change and Noudelmann's book was dropped when the prize shortlist was announced on Tuesday.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that in future, failure to disclose such a relationship will result in the juror being kicked out of the Academy Goncourt.

Reviews also banned

Another new rule was announced on Tuesday, according to Le Monde, stipulating that members of the jury cannot write public reviews of any of the works on the longlist. This measure seemed to again single out Camille Laurens, who penned an excoriating critique of one of the other novels under consideration after the longlist was announced.

The Goncourt Prize will be awarded on November 3. Famously, the winner is handed a check for only €10 (around $12), as their place in literary history is considered to be the real prize.