The Region supports Reunion Island culture with the Honoré Prize

Adolphe Maillot wins the 2025 Honoré Prize for his short story Atèr, after having already received the Fonnkèr Prize in 2024. His work promotes the Creole language and helps keep Reunion Island culture alive.

The awards ceremony was held on October 25th, organized by the Council for Culture, Education, and the Environment (CCEE). The Honoré Prize recognizes authors who create in Creole and enrich the local literary heritage.

The jury, which includes language enthusiasts and specialists, was chaired by Gora Patel, former Director of Réunion La 1ère, and was joined by poet Patrice Treuthardt, teacher Barbara Robert, storyteller Annie Darencourt, poets Sylvain Gérard and Karl Bègue, and poet Cindy Refesse. This team evaluated the works with care and passion, ensuring a fair and representative selection of Reunion Island creativity.

Among the other winners, Jean-Yves Hoarau won the Santié Maron Prize, Emmanuelle Guezello received the Koudkèr nouvèl, Charles Sébastien Lauret won the Koudkèr fonnkèr, and Céline Aho-Nienne won the Koudpous.

Under the leadership of President Huguette Bello, the Region is multiplying initiatives to promote local culture. Sominn Kréol 2025 plans a ronn kozé on October 29 and a livestreamed digital concert on November 11, allowing a wide audience to discover the language and culture of Reunion Island.

During the ceremony, Frédérik Mayo, Member of Parliament and Regional Councilor, emphasized the importance of the language in the lives of the people of Reunion Island. According to him, for several decades, we have been repeating that learning the language, our cement, our identity, remains important. “For us, Reunion Islanders, our unifying elements concern cuisine, language and our intangible heritage. We must salute the great work carried out by the CCEE and all the people who gravitate around it. Creole is finally returning to the public space, and this constitutes a great victory for our language,” he announced.