Maylis de Kerangal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) De Kerangal in 2023 | |
| Born | (1967-06-16)16 June 1967 (age 58) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Notable work | Birth of a Bridge (Naissance d'un pont, 2010);Mend the Living (Réparer les vivants, 2014) |
| Awards | Prix Médicis;Premio Gregor von Rezzori;Grand prix RTL-Lire;Wellcome Book Prize |
Maylis de Kerangal (born 16 June 1967) is a French author. Her novels deeply explore people in their work lives. She has won many awards for her work (including thePrix Médicis, thePremio Gregor von Rezzori, theGrand prix RTL-Lire, and theWellcome Book Prize), and her novels have been published in several languages. Two have been adapted as films.
Raised inLe Havre, Maylis de Kerangal studied history and philosophy inRouen andParis. She worked at Paris-basedÉditions Gallimard in the children and youth department from 1991 to 1996, then travelled in the United States. After her return, she did graduate work at theSchool for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.
De Kerangal wrote her first novel in 2000, and then became a full-time writer. Her celebrated novel,Birth of a Bridge (Naissance d'un pont, 2010) presents a literary saga of a handful of men and women who are charged with building a bridge somewhere in a mythical California.Birth of a Bridge was shortlisted for thePrix Goncourt.[1] It was awarded both thePrix Médicis in 2010 and thePremio Gregor von Rezzori in 2014,[2] and has been translated into several languages worldwide.[3][4][5][6]
Mend the Living (Réparer les vivants, 2014), translated by Jessica Moore and published in the UK, won thePrix Orange du Livre and theGrand prix RTL-Lire in France, and the 2017Wellcome Book Prize (UK).[7]
Mend the Living was adapted for the stage and produced at the theatre festival inAvignon. It received positive reviews for its intimate look at the realities and philosophical questioning around organ donation. It was adapted as the filmHeal the Living (2016). A second English-language translation of the novel by Sam Taylor, entitledThe Heart, was published in the US in 2016.
Eastbound (originally released in 2012 asTangente vers l’est) was named a best book of 2023 byThe New York Times.[8]
