Loïc Dauvillier
Loïc Dauvillier was born in 1971 in Cambrai in France. In 1996, he founded the publishing house Charrette, which remained in existence until 2012. Prior to all that, Dauvillier had never felt the urge to write.
He did not publish his first book until 2004 – »La petite familie« (tr: The little family, illustrated by Marc Lizano) was a young graphic novel that dealt with the subject of mourning. That was followed by other graphic novels for children and young people, including »Hugo et Cagoule« and »Mon copain secret« (tr: My secret friend), as well as graphic adaptations of classics such as Charles Dickens’ »Oliver Twist«, Jules Verne’s »Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours« (Eng: »Around the World in Eighty Days«), and Olivier Adam’s »Falaises« (Eng. »Cliffs«). Dauvillier’s creative range also includes tales for adults. Just as in his works for young readers, his books for adults address the complex issues of human relationships. One that deserves special mention is »Inès«, a collaboration with Jérôme d’Aviau, which deals with the sensitive subject of domestic violence. Two of Dauvillier’s books have been translated into German and one of those has also been translated into English – a young graphic novel called »L’enfant cachée« (Eng. »Hidden«, 2014). Working with illustrators Marc Lizano and Greg Salsedo, in »Hidden« Dauvillier tells the story of a young Jewish girl in occupied France. Now a grandmother, Dounia tells her granddaughter the story of her life as a child under German occupation – about wearing the yellow star of David, about the arrest of her parents, about the neighbors who took her in and helped her flee to the countryside and, finally, about her return to Paris. The book handles the subject with great tenderness and it won the 2015 Yad Vashem Prize for Children’s Holocaust Literature. The other book to be translated into German is »L’attentat«, based on the novel »The Attack« by Yasmina Khadra. Dauvillier and illustrator Glen Chapron have achieved an intense and powerful graphic adaptation of the material. Palestinian Amin Jaafari is an Arab-Israeli surgeon in Tel Aviv, where life for him and his beloved wife Sihem is peaceful and untroubled – until the day that Sihem blows herself up in a Tel Aviv restaurant. As Amin grapples not only with the death of his wife, but also with the realization that she was responsible for the horrific suicide attack, he begins to search for answers to all his questions.
Dauvillier is currently dividing his time between writing and other projects. He is working on a theater piece for children under four, as well as two animated TV series of his books (»Monsieur Lapin« and »Myrmidon«). His free time is dedicated to the screenplay for »Hidden«, planned as a feature-length animated film.
La petite famille
[Ill: Marc Lizano]
Éditions de Tournon
Paris, 2004
Oliver Twist
[Ill: Olivier Deloye]
Éditions Delcourt
Paris, 2007
Das versteckte Kind
[Ill: Marc Lizano]
Panini Comics
Stuttgart, 2014
[Ü: Monja Reichert]
Das Attentat
[Ill: Glen Chapron]
Carlsen
Hamburg, 2013
[Ü: Ulrich Pröfrock]
Myrmidon sur l’île des pirates
[Ill: Thierry Martin]
Éditions de la Gouttiére
Amiens, 2015
www.loicdauvillier.com
