Leïla Slimani Joins Prado Residency, Goncourt Laureate
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- Leïla Slimani spent two weeks at the Museo del Prado in Madrid as part of the Writing the Prado residency, a joint initiative of the Prado Museum and the Loewe Foundation in collaboration with Granta en Español.
- Leïla Slimani visited Goya’s Black Paintings, including Saturn Devouring His Son and Witches’ Sabbath, and said Goya painted the future and a sense of disappointment after the French Revolution.
- Leïla Slimani is a French‑Moroccan author born in Rabat in 1981, who left for Paris at 17, studied at Sciences Po, and began her career as a journalist.
- Leïla Slimani won the 2016 Prix Goncourt for her novel Lullaby, becoming the first Moroccan woman to receive the award, and was later appointed by President Emmanuel Macron as his personal representative for promoting French language and Francophone culture.
- Leïla Slimani’s father was arrested when she was 20, died before trial, and was posthumously exonerated; she channels the trauma into her writing, including the Country of Others trilogy, culminating in I’ll Take the Fire, published in English this year.
- Leïla Slimani said the Prado residency was a dream come true, allowing her to structure her days around looking and thinking while writing, despite initial pressure that left her unable to write for the first days.
Why it matters: By granting Slimani a dedicated, private setting at the Prado, the Writing the Prado program bridges visual art and contemporary literature, expanding the museum’s cultural reach and giving the author focused time to develop her new novel rooted in personal trauma.
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