Pascal Quignard

Pascal Quignard, a novelist, essayist, and screenwriter, was born in 1948 in Verneuil-sur-Avre, France. He studied philosophy at the University of Nanterre, where he attended lectures by E. Levinas and Paul Ricoeur. In 1969, he published his first book, "L'Être et le balbutiement" (an essay on Sacher-Masoch). He taught Old French at the University of Vincennes. From 1969, he worked as a reader for Gallimard Publishing, where he became a series director from 1976 to 1994. A violinist and cellist, he plays in musical ensembles. Alongside Philippe Beaussant, during Jacques Lang's tenure as Minister of Culture, he founded the Baroque Opera Festival of Versailles. Deeply engaged with ancient Greek and Latin education as well as ancient Chinese philosophy, he creates works based on the etymological mastery of language, leading him to a poetics of silence that reached a wide audience in 1991 with Alain Corneau's film adaptation of "Tous les matins du monde." Notable titles include: "Le Lecteur" (1976), "Carus" (Critics' Prize, 1980), "Le Salon de Wurtemberg" (1986), "La Leçon de musique" (1987), "Tous les matins du monde" (1991), "Georges de La Tour" (monograph, 1991), "Le Nom sur le bout de la langue" (1993), "Le Sexe et l'effroi" (1994), "Petits Traités" (1995), "La Haine de la musique" (1996), "Vie secrète" (1998), "Terrasse à Rome" (French Academy Novel Prize, 2000). His latest three-volume work, "Dernier royaume" (Les Ombres errantes, Sur le jadis, Abîmes), was awarded the Prix Goncourt in October 2002.