Vénus Khoury-Ghata
Vénus Khoury-Ghata (23 December 1937 – 28 January 2026) was a French-Lebanese poet and writer.
Also recorded as Venus Khoury-Ghata
Vénus Khoury-Ghata

Claire Gaudriot · CC BY 4.0
- Full name
- Vénus Abdel Sater.
- Born
- 1937. · Bsharri.
- Died
- 2026. · Paris.
- Nationality
- France and Lebanon.
- Occupation
- poet, novelist, writer and literary critic.
- Fields
- creative and professional writing, prose, poetry and literary criticism.
- Honours
- Prix Guillaume Apollinaire, Grand prix de poésie de la SGDL, Prix Jules-Janin, Grand Prix de Poésie, Prix Goncourt de la Poésie and Pierrette Micheloud Poetry Prize.
- Languages
- French and Arabic.
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Documentary summary
Vénus Khoury-Ghata (23 December 1937 – 28 January 2026) was a French-Lebanese poet and writer.
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Note VALÉORINE
Vénus Khoury-Ghata (1937–2026) was a literary critic, novelist and poet, among other activities, a national of France and Lebanon. The literary critic was born Vénus Abdel Sater in Bsharri and died in Paris.
Vénus Khoury-Ghata was a member of Académie Mallarmé. Activity centred on creative and professional writing, literary criticism and poetry.
Languages used include Arabic and French. Honours include Grand Prix de Poésie, Grand prix de poésie de la SGDL and Pierrette Micheloud Poetry Prize, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q513188 · wikipedia · Vénus Khoury-Ghata
In this article
Early life
Early life
The recorded working language is French and Arabic. The field of work recorded is creative and professional writing, prose and poetry. Distinctions recorded are Prix Guillaume Apollinaire, Grand prix de poésie de la SGDL, Prix Jules-Janin and Grand Prix de Poésie.
Vénus Khoury-Ghata was born into a Maronite family, the daughter of a French-speaking soldier and a peasant mother. She was the older sister of the author May Menassa. In 1959, she won the Miss Beirut Pageant. She emigrated to France to escape the war in Lebanon and married French-Turkish doctor Jean Ghata, son of the Turkish manuscript illuminator (and not calligrapher, as claimed by her daughter) Rikkat Kunt and her second husband, Fahreddin Ghata (born Çağatay). She lived in Paris from 1972 and published several novels and collections of poems. Her daughter Yasmine Ghata is also a renowned writer.
Career
Career
Vénus Khoury-Ghata undertook literary studies at L'École Supérieure Des Lettres de Beirut. She published her first literary collection in 1966 and 1967 "Terres Stagnantes", "Chez Seghers", and then in 1971 she published her first novel, "Les Inadaptés". In 2009, she received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the French Academy and the Goncourt Prize for Poetry in 2011. In 2018, she became a member of the Parliament of French-speaking writers alongside many writers, including Sedef Ecer, Paula Jacques and Khadi Hane.
Death
Death
Khoury-Ghata died on 28 January 2026, at the age of 88.
Works
Works
Les visages inachevés, (Unfinished faces) 1966 Les inadaptés, (The Maladjusted ones) novel, Le Rocher, 1971 Au Sud du silence, (South of Silence) poems, Saint Germain des Prés, 1975 Terres stagnantes, (Stagnant Lands) poems, Seghers Dialogue à propos d’un Christ ou d’un acrobate, (Dialogue about a Christ or an acrobat) novel, Les Editeurs Français Réunis, 1975 Alma, cousue main ou Le Voyage immobile, (Alma, Sewed Hand or the Immobile Trip) R. Deforges, 1977 Les ombres et leurs cris, (Shadows and their Screams) poems, Belfond, 1979 Qui parle au nom du jasmin?, (Who Talks in the Name of Jasmine?) Les Editeurs Français Réunis, 1980 Le fils empaillé, (The Stupid Son) Belfond, 1980 Un faux pas du soleil, (Sun Mistake) poems, Belfond, 1982 Vacarme pour une lune morte, (Muddle for a Dead Moon) novel, Flammarion, 1983 Les morts n’ont pas d’ombre, (Words Have No Shadows) novela Flammarion, 1984 Mortemaison, (Deathhouse) novel, Flammarion, 1986 Monologue du Mort, (Monologue of a Dead Man) novel, Belfond, 1986 Leçon d’arithmétique au grillon, (Lesson about Arithmetic for a Cricket) poems for children, Milan, 1987 Bayarmine, novel, Flammarion, 1988 Les fugues d’Olympia, (Escapes from Olumpus) novel, Régine Deforges/Ramsay, 1989 Fables pour un peuple d’argile, Un lieu sous la voûte, Sommeil blanc, (Fables for Clay People, A Place under the Vault, White Dream) poems, Belfond, 1992 La maîtresse du notable (the Command of the Remarkable Man) novel, Seghers, 1992 Ils, (They) poems, Amis du musée d’art moderne, 1993 Les fiancés du Cap-Ténès, (Cap-Ténès’ Fiancés) novel, Lattès, Lattès 1995 Anthologie personnelle, (Personal Anthology) poems, Actes Sud, 1997 Une maison au bord des larmes, (A House at the Tearside) novel, Balland, 1998 La maestra, (The Teacher) 1996, collection Babel, 2001 Elle dit, Les sept brins de chèvrefeuille de la sagesse, (She Says, Seven Blades of Wisdom Honeysuckle) poems, Balland, 1999 La voix des arbres, (Voice of Trees) poems for children Cherche-Midi, 1999 Alphabets de sable, (Sand Alphabets) poems, illustrated by Matta, tirage limité, Maeght, 2000 Le Fleuve, Du seul fait d’exister, (The River, The Simple Fact of Existing) with Paul Chanel Malenfant, Trait d’Union, 2000. Version des oiseaux, (Bird Version) poems, illustrated by Velikovic, François Jannaud, 2000 Privilège des morts, (Privilege of Dead) novel, Balland, 2001 Compassion des pierres, (Compassion of Stones) poemas, La Différence, 2001 Zarifé la folle, (Mad Zarifé) François Jannaud, 2001 Le Moine, l’ottoman et la femme du grand argentier, (The Monk, The Ottoman Man and The Eminent Algerian’s Wife) novel, Actes Sud, 2003 Quelle est la nuit parmi les nuits, (Which is the Night of Nights) Mercure de France, 2004 Six poèmes nomades, (Six Nomad Poemas) with Diane de Bournazel, Al Manar, 2005 La Maison aux orties, (Nettle House) Actes Sud, 2006 Sept pierres pour la femme adultère, (Seven Stones for Adulterous Women) roman, Mercure de France, 2007
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1937
Vénus Khoury-Ghata born at Bsharri.
2026
Vénus Khoury-Ghata died at Paris.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Bsharri.
Birth place
Paris.
Death place
Literary awards
Literary awards
Guillaume Apollinaire Prize for The Shadows and Their Cries (1980) Mallarmé Prize for Monologue du mort (1987) Jules-Supervielle Prize for Personal Anthology Prix Nice-Baie-des-Anges for Le Moine, l'ottoman and the wife of the great treasurer SGDL Grand Prize for Poetry (1993) for all of her work Jules-Janin Prize of the French Academy (2005) Grand Prize for Poetry of the French Academy (2009) Guillevic Grand Prize for Poetry of Saint-Malo (2010) Goncourt Prize for Poetry for her body of work (2011) Pierrette-Micheloud Poetry Prize for Where are the trees going? (2012) Renaudot Pocket Book Prize for The fiancée was on the back of a donkey (2015) Geneviève Moll Biography Prize for The Last Days of Mandelstam (2017)
Honours
Honours
Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit (2023) Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2022) Knight of the Legion of Honour (15 December 2000) Officer of the Legion of Honour (13 July 2010) Commander of the Legion of Honour (13 June 2017)
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Poetry International Web - Vénus Khoury-Ghata.
- 2.Artful Dodge - Making Introductions - Marilyn Hacker and Venus Khoury-Ghata.
- 3.Littérature. Rencontre avec Vénus Khoury-Ghata. Le Telegramme. 2015-03-04.
- 4.la Meslée, Valérie Marin. Vénus est son prénom. Le Point. 2012-01-10.
- 5.Solym, Clément. Vénus Khoury-Ghata reçoit le Goncourt 2011 de la poésie. les univers du livre d'actualité. 2011-12-08.
- 6.Lepais, Anne. La ville d'Orléans accueille le parlement des écrivaines francophones. France 3 Centre Val de Loire. 2018-09-21.
- 7.Mort de Vénus Khoury-Ghata, récompensée par le Prix Goncourt de la poésie, à l'âge de 88 ans
References
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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