Bernard Comment (born 20 April 1960) is a Swiss writer, translator, scriptwriter, and publisher of books.

Early life

Bernard Comment was born in Porrentruy, Switzerland, on 20 April 1960. He is a son of the artist Jean-François Comment. His elder brother Gerard is the proprietor of a record store ''Collector Shop'' in his hometown.

Education

Comment studied Literature at the University of Geneva under Jean Starobinski and at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris under Roland Barthes.

Career

Comment moved to Tuscany, where for four years he taught at the University of Pisa. He worked as a sports journalist, before moving to Paris to join as a research fellow at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

Literary

He published his first novel ''L'ombre de mémoire'' in 1990. Between 1993 and 1994, he was awarded a residential fellowship at the Villa Médicis, which inspired a tract against this kind of State-supported grants. Comment has translated several books of Antonio Tabucchi into French. In 2005, he succeeded Denis Roche as director at Fiction & Cie, and was appointed president of the Commission of the Novel at the Centre national du livre, which he held till 2008. In 2010, with Stanley Buchthal, he edited ''Fragments'', a collection of intimate writings, poems and letters of Marilyn Monroe.

Film and broadcasting

Along with Alain Tanner, he co-wrote the screenplays for the films ''Fourbi'' (1996), ''Requiem'' (1998), ''Jonas et Lila, Til Tomorrow'' (1999), ''Paul s'en va'' (2004). He also created with Bertrand Theubet, ''Le pied dans la fourmilière'' (1998) based on one of his novels. He was a member of the international jury at the Locarno International Film Festival (1996) and Fribourg International Film Festival (1998). In 1999, he was appointed as director of fiction at France Culture.

Other

In the 1980s, Comment was a secretary of the Swiss Association of Football Players. From October 2011, he has been an advisor of programming at Arte.

Awards and honours

* 1990: Prix Lipp Suisse for ''L'ombre de mémoire'' * 1990: Prix de la République et Canton du Jura * 1993: Prix Antigone for ''Allées et venues'' * 1995: Award of Distinction of the Commission of French literature of the canton of Bern * 2005: Award of the Canton of Bern for ''Un Poisson hors de l'eau'' * 2010: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres * 2011: Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle for ''Tout passe''

Bibliography

Novels

* ''L'Ombre de mémoire'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 1990 & Folio, 1999 (English: ''The Shadow of Memory'') * ''Allées et venues'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 1992 * ''Florence, retours'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 1994 & Éditions Gallimard, Folio, 2000 * ''Le Colloque des bustes'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 2000 & Éditions Gallimard, Folio, 2002 * ''Un Poisson hors de l'eau'', Éditions du Seuil, 2004 & Éditions Points, 2007 * ''Triptyque de l'ongle'', Joca Seria, 2008

Essays and stories

Collections

* ''Roland Barthes, vers le Neutre'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 1991 * ''Le XIXe siècle des panoramas'', Adam Biro, 1993 * ''Les fourmis de la gare de Berne'', Editions Zoe, 1996 * ''L'Ongle noir'', Éditions Mille et une nuits, 1997 * ''Éclats cubains'', with photographs by Jean-Luc Cramatte, Verticales/Grimoux, 1998 * ''Die Frauen der Antike'', with Anselm Kiefer, éditions Yvon Lambert, 1999. * ''The Panorama'', Reaktion Books (London) and Abrams (New York). * ''Même les oiseaux'', éditions Christian Bourgois, 1998 & J'ai lu, 2000 * ''Doucet de fonds en combles, trésors d'une bibliothèque d'art'', Herscher, 2004 * ''Entre deux, une enfance en Ajoie'', Biro Editeur, 2007 *

List of stories

As editor

Translations

* ''Rêves de rêves'', by Antonio Tabucchi. (1994) * ''Récits complets : Le Jeu de l'envers – Petits malentendus sans importance – L'Ange noir'', by Antonio Tabucchi. (1995) * ''Il se fait tard de plus en plus tard'', by Antonio Tabucchi. (2002)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comment, Bernard 1960 births Living people 20th-century Swiss novelists 21st-century Swiss novelists French publishers (people) Meanjin people Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People from Porrentruy Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle recipients Swiss male novelists Swiss male short story writers Swiss short story writers Swiss writers in French 20th-century Swiss male writers 21st-century Swiss male writers