Jean-Noël Pancrazi (born 28 April 1949 in

Sétif Sétif () is the capital city of the Sétif Province and the 5th most populous city of Algeria, with an estimated population of 1.866.845 in 2017). It is one of the most important cities of eastern Algeria and the country as a whole, since it is c ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

) is a French author.

Biography

Early years

Jean-Noël Pancrazi spent the first ten years of his life in Algeria with his parents and his sister. His childhood years during the

Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...

had a significant influence on his literary work. He arrived in France in 1962 and went to secondary school in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

, his mother's birthplace. He went to Paris to study at the famous

Lycée Louis-le-Grand The Lycée Louis-le-Grand (), also referred to simply as Louis-le-Grand or by its acronym LLG, is a public Lycée (French secondary school, also known as sixth form college) located on Rue Saint-Jacques (Paris), rue Saint-Jacques in central Par ...

then studied literature at the Sorbonne. In 1972 he received a degree in French Language and Literature. His first published work was an essay on Mallarmé published in 1973. During the 1970s, he worked as a French professor at a high school in Massy.

Literary career

His first novel, ''La Mémoire brûlée'' came out in 1979 published by Éditions du Seuil. He then wrote ''Lalibela ou la mort nomade'' (1981), ''L'Heure des adieux'' (1985) and ''Le Passage des princes'' (1988). His following novel, ''Les Quartiers d'hiver'' was published in 1990 by Gallimard: the backdrop is « le Vagabond », a gay bar in Paris, at the start of the AIDS epidemic. The novel received the

prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

. Pancrazi continued his exploration of nightlife culture with his novel ''Le Silence des passions'' (1994) which received the

prix Valery Larbaud The Prix Valery Larbaud is a French literary prize created in 1967, ten years after writer Valery Larbaud's death, by ''L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud'', an organization dedicated to the promotion of his works. The prize is ...

. He came back to his childhood in Batna, Algeria, at the time when the country toppled into war in his novel ''Madame Arnoul'' (1995), which traces the friendship between a young boy and his Alsatian neighbor – which the narrator considers like another mother – considered "an ally of the Arabs" because she protected a young Algerian girl against an assault by a French soldier, she was subsequently "punished" for this. ''Madame Arnoul'' received three awards: the prix du Livre Inter, the prix Maurice-Genevoix, and the prix Albert-Camus. He pays homage to his father, who lived in Corsica at the end of his life, in the novel ''Long séjour'' (1998, which received the award Jean Freustié), then to his mother in the novel ''Renée Camps'' (2001). These three books compose "a trilogy of family memories". In ''Tout est passé'' si vite (2003, which received the

Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française The is a French literary award, created in 1914, and given each year by the Académie Française. Along with the Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the ...

), he paints the portrait of a close friend who is an editor and writer who is diagnosed with cancer. His travels to Haiti and the Dominican Republic inspired two novels: ''Les Dollars des sables'' (2006), and ''Montecristi'' (2009), in which he uncovers an ecological scandal. In ''La Montagne'' (2012), Jean-Noël Pancrazi confronts a memory that he has kept secret for many years: the death of six young childhood friends, assassinated on a mountain during the Algerian war. The text received the prix Méditerranée, Marcel-Pagnol and François-Mauriac. In ''Indétectable'', a novel published in 2014 (Gallimard), he tells the story of Mady, an illegal immigrant from Mali living in Paris for ten years. Jean-Noël Pancrazi is also the author of ''Corse'' (2000), with Raymond Depardon. He received the distinguished award

Société des gens de lettres The Société des gens de lettres de France (SGDLF; ; ) is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors George Sand, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas. It is a private association recognised in France as ...

(SGDL) for his body of work. Since 1999, he has been a member of the jury for the Prix Renaudot. ''Territoires Intimes'', a documentary film on Jean-Noël Pancrazi, came out in 2013 (Renaud Donche, director, France 3 – Corsica, September 2013). Jean-Noël Pancrazi was nominated "chevalier dans l'Ordre du Mérite" and "chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur".

Works

* Mallarmé, essay, Hatier, 1973 * La Mémoire brûlée, novel, Le Seuil, 1979 * ''Lalibela ou la mort nomade'', novel, Ramsay, 1981 * ''L'Heure des adieux'', novel, Le Seuil, 1985 * ''Le Passage des princes'', novel, Ramsay, 1988 * ''Les Quartiers d'hiver'', novel, Gallimard, 1990, prix Médicis * ''Le Silence des passions'', novel, Gallimard, 1994, prix Valery-Larbaud * ''Madame Arnoul'', narrative, Gallimard, 1995, prix Maurice-Genevoix, prix Albert-Camus, prix du Livre Inter * ''Long séjour'', narrative, Gallimard, 1998, prix Jean-Freustié 1998 * ''Corse'' (Le Seuil, 2000) in collaboration with the photographer Raymond Depardon : text on Corsica and his father (following Long séjour). * ''Renée Camps'', narrative, Gallimard, 2001 * ''Tout est passé si vite'', novel, Gallimard, 2003, grand prix du roman de l'Académie française * ''Les Dollars des sables'', novel, Gallimard, 2006, adapted for cinema (2015) by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas, with the American actress Géraldine Chaplin * ''Montecristi'', novel, Gallimard, 2009 * ''La Montagne'', narrative, Gallimard, 2012, prix Marcel-Pagnol,

prix Méditerranée The Prix Méditerranée (Mediterranean Prize) is a French literary award. It was created in 1984 in Perpignan by the Mediterranean Centre of Literature (CML) to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Mediterranean ...

,L’Express / AFP - Pierre Andrieu, le 06/20/2012 : « Le prix Méditerranée 2012 à Jean-Noël Pancrazi et Antonio Muñoz Molina » Prix François Mauriac * ''Indétectable'', novel, Gallimard, 2014 * ''Je voulais leur dire mon amour'', novel, Gallimard, 2017 * ''Les années manquantes'', novel, Gallimard, 2022

Awards

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

for ''Les Quartiers d'hiver'', novel, Paris, Gallimard, 1990 * Prix Valery-Larbaud for ''Le Silence des passions'', novel, Paris, Gallimard, 1994 * Prix du Livre Inter, Prix Maurice Genevoix, and Prix Albert Camus for ''Madame Arnoul'', novel, Paris, Gallimard, 1995 * Prix Jean-Freustié for Long séjour, narrative, Paris, Gallimard, 1998 *

for ''Tout est passé si vite'', novel, Paris, Gallimard, 2003 * Prix Marcel Pagnol,

Prix Méditerranée The Prix Méditerranée (Mediterranean Prize) is a French literary award. It was created in 1984 in Perpignan by the Mediterranean Centre of Literature (CML) to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Mediterranean ...

Prix François Mauriac Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who a ...

for ''La Montagne'', narrative, Paris, Gallimard, 2012 * Grand Prix de la Société des Gens de Lettres for his body of work, Paris, 2009 * Chevalier dans l'Ordre national du Mérite, France, 2006 * Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur, France, 2013 * Member of the jury for

Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...

since 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pancrazi, Jean-Noel People from Sétif 1949 births Pieds-noirs 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Living people French male novelists Prix du Livre Inter winners Prix Médicis winners Knights of the Legion of Honour 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners