Literary Festival Etonnants Voyageurs Haiti — “Astonishing Travelers Haiti” — will bring 40 authors to the island for the first time since the 2010 earthquake.
Alexis Jenni’s ‘Classic, Accessible French Novel’ Takes the Goncourt
Biology teacher Alexis Jenni, won the renowned Goncourt Prize for his first novel, L’art français de la guerre (The French Art of War) published by Gallimard.
Should Other Countries Imitate France’s Rentrée Littéraire?
During the fall, the French publish more than six hundred novels simultaneously, hopefully inciting a frenzy of book buying. Should others imitate the practice?
As Maalouf Joins Académie Française, Label “Francophone” Questioned
By Olivia Snaije PARIS: Amin Maalouf, the Franco-Lebanese author, perhaps best known for his Goncourt Prize-winning book The Rock of Tanios was admitted to the venerable Académie Française, or French Academy, in June. Maalouf is the second writer of Arab origin to accede to the Academy — in 2005 Algerian-born writer Assia Djebar was voted in. Founded in 1635, the Académie Française …
Mathias Énard’s ‘Zone’: Brilliance in a Single 517 Page Sentence
By Dennis Abrams It really shouldn’t work at all — Matias Énard’s Zone. This novel, the story of Francis Servain Mirkovic, fighter in the Balkan Wars, spy, and amateur historian, traveling from Milan to Rome by train, carrying a briefcase filled with names, photos, and information about the violent history of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean – the “Zone,” as …
Bonjour, UAE: March’s Abu Dhabi Book Fair Highlights French Lit, Culture
This article is part of a series on publishing in the Middle East which is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. By Olivia Snaije This year France will be the cultural focus at this year’s Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, which runs from March 15-20. French culture gets a big boost at this year’s Abu Dhabi International Book …
Prix Goncourt 2011 Debut Novel Winner Announced
Michel Rostain has won the 2011 Goncourt Debut Novel Prize for 2011 for his novel, The Son (Le Fils), published by Oh! Editions in Paris. The prize was announced yesterday, 1 February. Just two weeks after publication, The Son has already achieved bestseller status in France, according to Andrea Field, Foreign Rights Manager at Oh! Editions. Novels shortlisted for the …
A Very French Melancholy: Olivier Adam, the Man Who Lost the Goncourt
• The latest in Lewis Manalo’s series looking at underappreciated writers worthy of wider translation considers the work of French writer Olivier Adam, who was shortlisted for this year’s Prix Goncourt. • Prior articles in the series cover Louis Cha (China), Rodrigo Fresan (Argentina), Agnar Mykle (Norway), and Stephen Vizinczey (Hungary). By Lewis Manalo Anyone who gives half an ear …