Pierre Michon

Pierre Michon (born 28 March 1945, 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. 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 and English.

Works

• Small Lives, Archipelago Books (2008) [Vies minuscules, Gallimard (1984) ; Folio (1996)]
• Vie de Joseph Roulin, Verdier (1988)
• L'empereur d'Occident, with engravings by Pierre Alechinsky, Fata Morgana (1989); Verdier Poche (2007) without illustrations
• Masters and servants, Mercury House (1997) [Maîtres et serviteurs, Verdier (1990)]
• Rimbaud le fils, Gallimard (1991)
• The Origin of the World, Mercury House (2002) [La Grande Beune, Verdier (1996)]
• Le roi du bois, Verdier (1996)
• Mythologies d'hiver, Verdier (1997)
• Trois auteurs, Verdier (1997)
• Abbés, Verdier (2002)
• Corps du roi, Verdier (2002), Décembre prize
• Le roi vient quand il veut : propos sur la littérature, Albin Michel (2007)
• Les onze, Verdier (2009)

Awards

• 2002: Prix Décembre
• 2009: Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française
• 2010: Petrarca-Preis