Maylis de Kerangal

Maylis de Kerangal
De Kerangal in 2010
Born (1967-06-16) 16 June 1967 (age 57)
Toulon, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationWriter
Notable workBirth of a Bridge (Naissance d'un pont, 2010); Mend the Living (Réparer les vivants, 2014)
AwardsPrix Médicis; Premio Gregor von Rezzori; Grand prix RTL-Lire; Wellcome Book Prize

Maylis de Kerangal (born 16 June 1967) is a French author. Her novels deeply explore people in their work lives. She has won many awards for her work (including the Prix Médicis, the Premio Gregor von Rezzori, the Grand prix RTL-Lire, and the Wellcome Book Prize), and her novels have been published in several languages. Two have been adapted as films.

Life and career

Raised in Le Havre, Maylis de Kerangal studied history and philosophy in Rouen and Paris. She worked at Paris-based Éditions Gallimard in the children and youth department from 1991 to 1996, then travelled in the United States. After her return, she did graduate work at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

De Kerangal wrote her first novel in 2000, and then became a full-time writer. Her celebrated novel, Birth of a Bridge (Naissance d'un pont, 2010) presents a literary saga of a handful of men and women who are charged with building a bridge somewhere in a mythical California. Birth of a Bridge was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt.[1] It was awarded both the Prix Médicis in 2010 and the Premio Gregor von Rezzori in 2014,[2] and has been translated into several languages worldwide.[3][4][5][6]

Mend the Living (Réparer les vivants, 2014), translated by Jessica Moore and published in the UK, won the Prix Orange du Livre and the Grand prix RTL-Lire in France, and the 2017 Wellcome Book Prize (UK).[7]

Mend the Living was adapted for the stage and produced at the theatre festival in Avignon. It received positive reviews for its intimate look at the realities and philosophical questioning around organ donation. It was adapted as the film Heal the Living (2016). A second English-language translation of the novel by Sam Taylor, entitled The Heart, was published in the US in 2016.

Eastbound (originally released in 2012 as Tangente vers l’est) was named a best book of 2023 by The New York Times.[8]

Works

  • Je marche sous un ciel de traîne. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2000. ISBN 9782843350641
  • La Vie voyageuse. Paris, Éditions Verticales, 2003. ISBN 978-2843351617
  • Ni fleurs ni couronnes. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2006. ISBN 9782070777204
  • Dans les rapides. Paris: Éditions Naïve, 2007. ISBN 978-2350210865
  • Corniche Kennedy. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2008. ISBN 9782070122196
  • Naissance d'un pont. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2010. ISBN 978-2070130504
  • Tangente vers l'est. Paris, Éditions Verticales, 2012, 134 pp. ISBN 9782070136742
    • Award: Prix Landerneau 2012
    • Translation: Eastbound. tr. Jessica Moore. New York: Archipelago Books, 2023.
  • Réparer les vivants. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2013. ISBN 9782070144136
  • à ce stade de la nuit. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2014. ISBN 9782070107544
  • Un chemin de tables. Seuil - Raconter la vie. 2016. ISBN 9782370210753
    • Translation: The Cook: A Novel. tr. Sam Taylor. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019. ISBN 9780374120900
  • Un monde à portée de main,. Paris: Éditions Verticales, 2018.
    • Translation: Painting Time. tr. Jessica Moore (2021)

References

  1. ^ Pressley, James. "Houellebecq Wins Goncourt, Top French Literary Award". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  2. ^ "2014 Winners". Festival degli Scrittori - Premio Gregor von Rezzori. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Birth of a Bridge". Talonbooks.
  4. ^ Farrant, M.A.C. (16 January 2015). "French novelist explores mythic themes in 'Birth of a Bridge'". The Vancouver Sun.
  5. ^ Sacks, Sam (7 November 2014). "The Sins of the Father". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ^ Tennant, JS (6 July 2015). "Birth of a Bridge by Maylis de Kerangal; translated by Jessica Moore; book review: An extraordinary construction from a distinctive voice". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Maylis de Kerangal's 'Mend the Living' wins the Wellcome Book Prize 2017". wellcomebookprize.org. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  8. ^ Staff, The New York Times Books (28 November 2023). "The 10 Best Books of 2023". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Maylis de Kerangal wins Wellcome Book Prize 2017 | Wellcome". wellcome.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
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