French Writer Annie Ernaux Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature

Stockholm, 6 Oct (ONA) --- French author Annie Ernaux was awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in literature for “the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory,” the Swedish Academy said today.

Ernaux, 82, started out writing autobiographical novels, but quickly abandoned fiction in favour of memoirs.

Her more than 20 books, most of them very short, chronicle events in her life and the lives of those around her.

Ernaux describes her style as “flat writing” (ecriture plate), a very objective view of the events she is describing, unshaped by florid description or overwhelming emotions.

In the book that made her name, “La Place” (A Man’s Place), about her relationship with her father, she writes: “No lyrical reminiscences, no triumphant displays of irony. This neutral writing style comes to me naturally.”

Her most critically acclaimed book was “The Years” (Les annees), published in 2008 and describing herself and wider French society from the end of World War II to the present day. Unlike in previous books, in “The Years,” Ernaux writes about herself in the third person, calling her character “she” rather than “I”. The book received numerous awards and honours.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on 10 December 2022. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, in 1895.

--- Ends/Khalid