Alain Nadaud (5 July 1948 – 12 June 2015) was a French novelist, writer and diplomat. He was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and studied literature at

Nanterre Nanterre (, ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, bordering t ...

, obtaining a master's degree. Nadaud then taught literature abroad, in

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, Mauritania and in

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

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. After completing a doctorate, he went abroad again to teach French in

Kwara Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internatio ...

state in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Back in Paris, he taught philosophy until 1985. After the publication of his first novel ''Archéologie du zéro'' in 1984, Nadaud joined the publisher Denoël, where he was in charge of manuscripts. After a stint with Ramsay, he worked at Balland and then Belfond. He wrote for numerous journals before founding the literary magazine ''Quai Voltaire''. Known for his historical novels, he won the Prix Mediterranee for ''Auguste fulminant''. Appointed to the French embassy in

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in 1994, Nadaud later served as

cultural attaché A cultural attaché is a diplomat with varying responsibilities, depending on the sending state of the attaché. Historically, such posts were filled by writers and artists, giving them a steady income, and allowing them to develop their own crea ...

at the French consulate in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Novels

* Archéologie du zéro, Denoël, 1984 * L'Envers du temps, Denoël, 1985 * Désert physique, Denoël, 1987 * L'Iconoclaste, Quai Voltaire, 1989 * La Mémoire d'Érostrate, Le Seuil, 1992 * Le Livre des malédictions, Grasset, 1995 * Auguste fulminant, Grasset, 1997 * Une aventure sentimentale, Verticales, 1999 * La Fonte des glaces, Grasset, 2000 * Les Années mortes, Grasset, 2004 * Le Vacillement du monde, Actes Sud, 2006 * Si Dieu existe, Albin Michel, 2007 * Le passage du col, Albin Michel, 2009 * La plage des demoiselles, Éditions Léo Scheer, 2010 * D'écrire j'arrête, Tarabuste Éditeur, 2010

Other works

* La Tache aveugle, Éditeurs français réunis, 1980 (réédition Messidor 1990). * Voyage au pays des bords du gouffre, Denoël, 1986. * L'Iconolâtre, Tarabuste, 1995. * Petit catalogue des nations barbares, L'Or du temps, Tunis, 1999. * Ivre de livres, Balland, 1989. * Malaise dans la littérature, Champ Vallon, 1993. * Aux portes des enfers, enquête géographique littéraire et historique, Actes Sud, 2004. * La Représentation, Dumerchez, 1991 (play) * Vilas Sarang : Le Terroriste et autres récits, Denoël, 1988 (translation)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadaud, Alain 1948 births 2015 deaths 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Writers from Paris French male novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers Diplomats from Paris 20th-century French diplomats