Céline Minard

Céline Minard was born in 1969 in the harbour town of Rouen in Northern France. After completing her studies in philosophy, she initially worked selling books before dedicating herself fully to writing.

In line with her opinion that the biography of an author is her library, she was mainly influenced by philosophical books, with first place being occupied by German writer Arno Schmidt’s book »Aus dem Leben eines Fauns« (1953; tr. From the Life of a Faun). Her own literary debut was »R.« (2004), with which she succeeded – according to one critic – in avoiding all of the pitfalls typical of a first novel. In it she has a great nephew of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau follow in the footsteps of his famous forefather – not only metaphorically, but in the truest sense of the word on a walking tour like the ones Rousseau himself enjoyed as a young man. In doing so, Minard not only sends her main character, but also the reader, on a journey of discovery on which the experiences had on the way reveal their inherent poetic nature described in powerful baroque language. In her other books, the author presents a broad range of subjects, genres and narrative styles. Her novel »Le Dernier Monde« (2007) tells the story of an astronaut who returns after the apocalyptic disappearance of the whole of humanity to the abandoned Earth and thus has to tell the story via the voices in his head, which keep him company in his loneliness. By comparison, the novel »Bastard Battle« (2008), in which an Asian sword fighter helps the inhabitants of Chaumont to defend their town against the armed troops of the bastard Aligot of Bourbon, combines medieval history with Manga elements and was illustrated by French graphic designer Fanette Mellier. Another example of Minard’s regular cooperation with visual artists is the novel »Les Ales« (2011) illustrated by Sylvie Comparo. In the same year, Minard received the Franco-German Franz Hessel Prize together with German author Thomas Melle (»Sickster«, 2011) for her novel »So Long, Luise« (2011), which tells the story of an old, world-famous author, who is writing her literary testament. Her most recent novel »Faillir être flingué« (2013) won the French literature prizes, the Prix Virilo and Prix du Style. Minard, a »great author who commands with ease the most male of all genres, the Western« (Matthes & Seitz), tells in this book the story of the native American girl »Water Flowing Across the Plains«, an orphan who joins a wagon trail.

Céline Minard lives in Paris.

Le Dernier Monde

Denoël

Paris, 2007

Bastard Battle

Léo Scheer

Paris, 2008

So Long, Luise

Denoël

Paris, 2011

Les Ales

[Illustration: Sylvie Comparo]

Cambourakis

Paris, 2011

Mit heiler Haut

Matthes & Seitz

Berlin, 2014

[Ü: Nathalie Mälzer]