French-Algerian author Kamel Daoud was awarded the prestigious Goncourt Prize on Monday for his novel “Les Sirènes,” published by Éditions Gallimard, which explores the Algerian civil war from 1992 to 2002, known as the “Black Decade.”

Daoud received six votes from the ten members of the Goncourt Academy, compared to two for French author Éline Gaudy and one each for her compatriot Sandrine Collette and Rwandan-French author Gaël Fay, as announced by Goncourt Academy president Philippe Claudel.

The Goncourt Prize is considered one of the highest literary awards in France, given annually for the best literary work written in French. This award is often reserved for novels that showcase creative imagination and literary richness.