Pierre Michon (born 28 March 1945 in Châtelus-le-Marcheix, Creuse) is a French writer. His first novel, Small Lives (1984), is widely regarded as a genuine masterpiece in contemporary French literature.Le Monde concluded its review with "this beautiful, shuddering text, written with exact mastery, tends towards appeasement. The writing, touched by grace, gives substance to fading souls: that's justification, if any were needed. It consoles us for the indecency of life, which imposes the painful feeling of being too much, of having done nothing for it, and of having to apologise for it." He has won several prizes for Small Lives and for The Origin of the World (1996) as well as for his body of work. His novels and stories have been translated into German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, Polish, Serbian, Czech, Norwegian, Estonian, Japanese and English. He won the 2017 International Nonino Prize in Italy.
Works 1984: Small Lives (Vies minuscules). Translated by Jody Gladding and Elizabeth Deshays for Archipelago Books, 2008. 1988: Life of Joseph Roulin (Vie de Joseph Roulin). Translated by Wyatt Mason for Mercury House and included in Masters and Servants, 1997. 1997: L'empereur d'Occident. 1990: Masters and Servants (Maîtres et serviteurs). Translated by Wyatt Mason for Mercury House, 1997. 1991: Rimbaud the Son (Rimbaud le fils). Translated by Jody Gladding and Elizabeth Deshays for Yale University Press, 2013. 1996: The Origin of the World (La Grande Beune). Translated by Wyatt Mason for Mercury House, 2002. 1996: The King of the Wood (Le roi du bois). Translated by Wyatt Mason for Mercury House and included in Masters and Servants, 1997. 1997: Trois auteurs. 1997: Winter Mythologies (Mythologies d'hiver). Translated by Ann Jefferson for Yale University Press, 2017. 2002: Abbots (Abbés). Translated by Ann Jefferson for Yale University Press, 2017. 2002: Corps du roi. 2007: Le roi vient quand il veut : propos sur la littérature. 2009: The Eleven (Les Onze). Translated by Jody Gladding and Elizabeth Deshays for Archipelago Books, 2013.
Awards 2002: Prix Décembre 2009: Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française 2010: Petrarca-Preis 2017: International Nonino Prize 2019: Franz Kafka Prize
References
External links Pierre Michon at publisher's site (in French) Pierre Michon at remue.net (in French) Critical bibliography (Auteurs.contemporain.info) (in French) Pierre Michon at Mercury House (English translations)