Annie Ernaux

Born in 1940, Annie Ernaux grew up in the small town of Yvetot in Normandy, where her parents ran a coffee shop. After studying literature in Rouen, she became an associate professor and pursued a teaching career while writing. Her first novel, Cleaned out (Les armoires vides,1974), describes the heartbreak of a class defector. From A man's place (La place, 1984 – Renaudot Prize) onwards, she breaks away from fiction and explores her own lived experience, while seeking new forms of autobiography. She wrote some twenty books, including The Years (Les années, 2008 - Marguerite-Duras Prize, François-Mauriac Prize of the Academie française, the French Language Prize and Premio Strega Europeo Prize), which enjoyed international success.

Two of her novels have been adapted for the cinema : Simple Passion (Passion simple) directed by Danielle Arbid and selected at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, and Happening (L’Evenement) directed by Audrey Diwan, awarded the Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Film Festival. The Super 8 Years (Les Années Super 8), directed with her son David Ernaux-Briot, is a documentary of her personal archive videos with commentary, in Official Selection at the 2022 Director’s Fortnight and nominated for the 2023 César for Best Documentary.

Annie Ernaux wins the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature.