René de Ceccatty (born 1 January 1952 in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

) is a French writer, translator and editor. He has written about 30 novels and biographies and translated works from Italian and Japanese. His 1994 work, ''Violette Leduc, éloge de la bâtarde'' provided a basis for

Martin Provost Martin Provost (born 13 May 1957) is a French film director, writer and actor. He wrote and directed films such as '' Séraphine'' and ''Le Ventre de Juliette''. '' Violette,'' his 2013 biographical drama about author Violette Leduc Violette ...

's 2013 film '' Violette'', for which de Ceccatty co-wrote the screen-play.

Biography

De Ceccatty's work focuses on novels and drama pieces. He also translates from Italian and (collaborating with Ryôji Nakamura), Japanese. He has a deep knowledge of the works of

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

Violette Leduc Violette Leduc (7 April 1907 – 28 May 1972) was a French writer. Early life and education She was born in Arras, Pas de Calais, France, on 7 April 1907. She was the illegitimacy, illegitimate daughter of a servant girl, Berthe Leduc, and And ...

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

and of modern Italian and Japanese literature more generally. His book L'Accompagnement found a particular resonance:

It is in effect a novelist's work of poetic introspection, in the tradition of earlier writers such as
Hector Bianciotti Hector Bianciotti (; 18 March 1930 – 12 June 2012) was an Argentine-born French author and member of the Académie française. Biography Born Héctor Bianciotti (, ) in Calchín Oeste in Córdoba Province, Argentina, Bianciotti's parents were ...
,
Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for her ...
, and Japanese novelist
Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...
.

His novels "Aimer" (''"To love"'' 1998), "Consolation provisoire" (''"Provisional Consolation"'' 1996), "L'Éloignement (''"Retention"'' 2000), "Fiction douce" (''"Sweet fiction"'' 2002) and "Un fin" (''"An Ending"'' 2004) together form a "quintet" devoted to the difficulties of loving, and can be seen as part of the modern

Autofiction In literary criticism, autofiction is a form of fictionalized autobiography. Autofiction combines two mutually inconsistent narrative forms, namely autobiography and fiction. An author may decide to recount their life in the third person, to mod ...

movement. Continuing in the same vein were his books "L'Hôte invisible" (''"The invisible host"'' 2007) and "Raphaël et Raphaël" (2012). He has also published biographies, essays and short stories, which are at the same time both intimate and scholarly. He wrote about Greta Garbo (''"Un renoncement"'' 2013) and about French painter Xavier Sigalon (''"Objet d'amour"'' 2015). René de Ceccatty has also worked for the theatre, notably with the Argentine producer Alfredo Arias and with comedy actresses including

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmina Adjani ; born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She is the only performer in history to win five César Awards for acting; she won the Best Actress award for ''Possession'' (1981), ''O ...

Anouk Aimée Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus (born 27 April 1932), known professionally as Anouk Aimée () or Anouk, is a French film actress, who has appeared in 70 films since 1947, having begun her film career at age 14. In her early years, she studi ...

Marilú Marini Marilú Marini (born 15 June 1940) is an Argentine actress. She frequently works with French filmmaker Claire Denis. She received the Diamond Konex Award in 2021 as the most important person in Entertainment in the last decade in Argentina. Sele ...

Aurore Clément Aurore Clément (born 12 October 1945) is a French actress who has appeared in French and English language movies and television productions. Early life She was born Marie-Thérèse Aurore Louise Clément in Soissons. Following the death of her ...

and

Adriana Asti Adriana Asti (born 30 April 1931) is an Italian stage, film, and voice actress. Biography On stage, she starred in ''Saint Joan'' by George Bernard Shaw, ''Happy Days'' by Samuel Beckett, ''The Mistress of the Inn'' by Carlo Goldoni, and ''Three ...

. He has worked as a literary editor-compiler: he had published the works of the Algerian writer Rabah Belamri. Working with the Paris publishing house

Hatier Hatier () is a French publishing house specializing in scholarly works and educational materials, now integrated into the Hachette group. Founded in 1880 by Alexandre Hatier, Hatier obtains 20% of its sales through international affiliates in ...

, he has created the so-called "Haute Enfance" (''"High Childhood"'') series, later taken on by

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

. With

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' ...

he founded the "Solo" and "Réflexion" (''"Reflection"'') collections.

References

1952 births 21st-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French novelists Winners of the Prix Broquette-Gonin (literature) Prix Valery Larbaud winners People from Tunis Living people 21st-century French male writers {{France-translator-stub