Michel Picard (born 15 August 1931 in Nancy) is a French professor, writer and literary critic.

Biography

A novelist, essayist, academic, Michel Picard published at a very young age (under pseudonym) two novels at Gallimard and collaborated regularly with the ''

Nouvelle Revue française ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' (; "The New French Review") is a literary magazine based in France. In France, it is often referred to as the ''NRF''. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1909 by a group of intellectuals including An ...

''. He was born in Nancy, where he studied and taught, first at the École Normale d'Institutrices, then at the Faculty of Letters. Agrégé de Lettres, he supported in January 1971 at the Sorbonne a Doctorate thesis which aroused interest and controversy, both for the chosen work, that of

Roger Vailland Roger Vailland (16 October 1907 – 12 May 1965) was a French novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. Biography Vailland was born in Acy-en-Multien, Oise. His novels include the prize winning ''Drôle de jeu'' (1945), ''Les mauvais coups'' (1948) ...

, and for the method adopted. Hence a defense account in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', the rapid publication of the thesis, one or two violent attacks and several complimentary articles (including two pages by Étiemble in ''Le Nouvel Observateur''). Elected a professor the same year at the

University of Reims The University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (; URCA), also known simply as the University of Reims, is a public university based in Reims, France. In addition to the main campus in Reims, the university has several campuses located throughout t ...

, he spent thirteen years as director of the Department of French. In 1986, he published ''La lecture comme jeu'' ("Reading as a Game") and then, in 1989, ''Lire le temps'' ("Reading Time"), an essay in which he analyzed literature not as an object (library, volume or "text"), but as an "Activity"- this being not writing but reading, some sort of reading, fully definable as a game. In 2002, ''La Tentation'' will extend the thesis to art in general, starting from the famous engraving of

Jacques Callot Jacques Callot (; – 1635) was a baroque printmaker and draftsman from the Duchy of Lorraine (an independent state on the north-eastern border of France, southwestern border of Germany and overlapping the southern Netherlands). He is an impor ...

. However, joining practice to theory, he pursued his work as novelist and published four novels in recent years, one of which, notably, "Matantemma", attracted the attention of the critics and obtained the

Feuille d'or de la ville de Nancy The Feuille d'or de la ville de Nancy is a literary award, awarded on the occasion of the at Nancy. It rewards a Lorraine author or whose work concerns Lorraine. List of laureates * 2016: Hélène Gestern, ''L'Odeur de la forêt'', Arléa * 2 ...

prize.

Bibliography: main publications

Novels

*1997: ''Freud à Nancy'', Autrement (series "Littératures"), *2005: ''À Pierre fendre'', Autrement (series "Littératures"), *2007: ''Matantemma'', , ,

*2009: ''La cata'', Buchet/Chastel,

Essays

*1972: ''Libertinage et tragique ''– ''L'œuvre de Roger Vailland'', Hachette-Littérature. *1986: ''La lecture comme jeu ''– ''essai sur la littérature'', Éditions de Minuit (series "Critique").''Littérature : la lecture comme jeu '', site de l'IFE-ENS Lyon
/ref> *1989: ''Lire le temps'', Éditions de Minuit (series 'Critique") *1992: ''Loup, y es-tu ? ''(Nodier, "La fée aux miettes"), P.U.F. (series "Le texte rêve") *1995: ''La littérature et la mort'', P.U.F. (series "Écriture") *2002: ''La Tentation ''– ''essai sur l'art comme jeu'', Jacqueline Chambon (series "series")

With collaborators

*1987: ''La lecture littéraire'', Clancier-Guénaud *1990: ''Lecture de Roger Vailland'', Klincksieck *1994: ''Comment la littérature agit-elle ? ''Klincksieck

References

External links

Michel Picard
on Buchet/Chastel
Michel Picart
on Babelio {{DEFAULTSORT:Picard, Michel 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French novelists 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists French literary critics 1931 births Writers from Nancy, France Living people