French writer Annie Ernaux, whose novel Happening inspired Audrey Diwan’s Venice Lion-winning film of the same name, has won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature.
The author, known for her semi-autobiographical books combining personal memory and social justice, is the first French woman to win the prestigious award.
Diwan worked closely with Ernaux while writing her screenplay. The drama is based on Ernaux’s own experience in 1960s France when abortions were illegal.
The film’s sales agent Wild Bunch International called Ernaux an “uncompromising writer of many masterpieces which explore gender, language and class” and called the title “now more relevant than ever” in a tribute following the announcement.
The Swedish Academy, which bestows the annual prize, said the choice was based on “the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory” and said Ernaux “consistently and from different angles examines a life marked by strong disparities regarding gender, language and class.”
Doc director
Ernaux made her film directorial debut with documentary The Super 8 Years, co-directed with her son David Ernaux-Briot, which was selected for Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in May. The film takes an inside look at life in 1970s France through old family videos.
Several French political, literary and film figures have publicly congratulated Ernaux including President Emmanuel Macron who tweeted: “For 50 years, Annie Ernaux has been writing the novel of the collective and intimate memory of our country. Her voice is that of women’s freedom, and the century’s forgotten ones.”
Ernaux is the 17th woman among the 119 Nobel literature laureates and the first French author laureate since Patrick Modiano in 2014.
Ernaux’s debut novel was 1974 title Les Armoires Vides (Cleaned Out) but she gained international recognition following the publication of her 2008 book Les Années (The Years) that looked at both her personal life and French society at large from the end of World War II to the 21st century and won several awards and honours. Ernaux has published more than 20 books over five decades. Her books explore intimate moments including sexual encounters, illness and death, all juxtaposed against the backdrop of social and class issues.
Danielle Arbid’s 2020 erotic drama Passion Simple is also based on the author’s writing.
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