Jakuta Alikavazovic (born 6 October 1979 in Paris) is a French writer. Her debut novel ''Corps volatils'' was awarded the

prix Goncourt du premier roman The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

. In 2021, her latest novel ''Night As It Falls'' was published in the United Kingdom by Faber & Faber.

Biography

A former student of the

École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay The École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay (also ENS Paris-Saclay or Normale Sup' Paris-Saclay), formerly ENS Cachan, is a grande école and a constituent member of Paris-Saclay University. It was established in 1892. It is located in Gif-sur-Yv ...

, she holds an agrégation de Lettres degree. In 2010, her second novel ''Le Londres-Louxor'' received a very enthusiastic welcome from the press and found itself in the selection of the

Prix du Livre Inter The Prix du Livre Inter is a prize for best French novel of the year. It is awarded by the radio channel France Inter. It was established in 1975 at the initiative of Paul-Louis Mignon. List of recipients References {{Reflist Awards establish ...

. In 2012, she published ''La Blonde et le Bunker'', which won the special mention of the jury of the

Prix Wepler The prix Wepler is a French literary award established in 1998 at the initiative of the Abbesses Bookshop, with the support of the La Poste Foundation, and the Brasserie Wepler ( Place Clichy, 18th arrondissement of Paris) and which distinguishes ...

. Her fourth novel ''L'avancée de la nuit'', published in 2017, was shortlisted for

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

's literary prize, the

Prix Médicis The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and . It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent." The award goes to a work of fiction in the French language. In 19 ...

, the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine ''La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

and the

. She won the 2021

Prix Médicis essai Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

for ''Comme un ciel en nous''. Her books are translated into English, Italian, German and Chinese. She has a monthly column in national daily newspaper

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France ...

. Her work has been published in

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

Nouvelle Revue Française ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' (; "The New French Review") is a literary magazine based in France. In France, it is often referred to as the ''NRF''. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1909 by a group of intellectuals including And ...

and

El Malpensante ''El Malpensante'' ( es, The Misthinker) is a Colombian literary magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, short stories, graphic art and poetry founded in 1996. Its founders were Andrés Hoyos Restrepo and Mario Ju ...

. She also wrote three books for children published by and has translated several books from English including works from

David Foster Wallace David Foster Wallace (February 21, 1962 – September 12, 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace is widely known for his 1996 novel '' Infinite Jest'', whi ...

Anna Burns Anna Burns FRSL (born 7 March 1962) is an author from Northern Ireland. Her novel ''Milkman'' won the 2018 Booker Prize, the 2019 Orwell Prize for political fiction, and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award. Biography She was born in B ...

and

Ben Lerner Benjamin S. Lerner (born February 4, 1979) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. He has been a Fulbright Scholar, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a finalist for the National Book Award, a finalist for the National B ...

Work

Novels

*2007: ''Corps volatils'', Éditions de l'Olivier *2010: ''Le Londres-Louxor'', Éditions de l'Olivier *2012: ''La Blonde et le Bunker'', Éditions de l'Olivier *2017: ''L'avancée de la nuit'', Éditions de l'Olivier / ''Night As It Falls'', Faber & Faber

Short stories

*2006: ''Histoires contre nature'', Éditions de l'Olivier *2008: ''Romeo y Julieta (un cratère)'', Éditions de l'atelier In 8°

Journals and collective works

*2013: "La mémoire des visages", Assises du Roman, Christian Bourgois/Villa Gillet/Le Monde *2013: "Nocturne", Nouvelle Revue Française n° 606, Gallimard *2014: "Risques et périls", Devenirs du Roman (vol.2), Éditions Inculte *2015: "Nos visages", Nouvelle Revue française n^o 613, Éditions Gallimard *2017: "Des larmes", Nouvelle Revue française n^o 623, Éditions Gallimard *2019: "À propos de certains types de circuits", Nouvelle Revue française, n^o 636, Éditions Gallimard

Books for children

*2004: ''Holmes et moi'', L'École des loisirs *2004: ''Leçon d'équilibrisme n°1'', L'École des loisirs *2012: ''Irina vs Irina'', L'École des loisirs

Prizes and distinctions

*In 2007, Jakuta Alikavazovic was a laureate of the "Bourse du Talent écrivain" of the

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (10 February 1928, Aubiet – 14 March 2003, Paris) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supelec'' engineer. He began his career ...

foundation *In 2008, her novel ''Corps volatils'' was distinguished the

Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

*In 2012, ''La Blonde et le Bunker'' received the Mention Spéciale du jury of the

*In 2013 and 2014, Jakuta Alikavazovic was a resident at the

Villa Médicis The Villa Medici () is a Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with a garden contiguous with the larger Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in Rome, Italy. The Villa Medici, founded by Ferdinando I de' Medici, ...

at Rome *In 2017, her novel ''L'avancée de la nuit'' was awarded the Prix du Zorba, the Prix Castel du Roman de la Nuit

References

External links

Jakuta Alikavazovic
on La Cause littéraire
Jakuta Alikavazovic
on Babelio
Jakuta Alikavazovic : Des obsessions, des rituels (Écrire aujourd’hui)
on Diacritik (13 April 2016)

on ''

'' (7 January 2010)
Jakuta Alikavazovic: ''Leçon d'équilibrisme n°1''
on Ina.fr (video) (3 November 2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alikavazovic, Jakuta 21st-century French novelists French women short story writers 21st-century French short story writers English–French translators French children's writers 21st-century French women writers French women children's writers Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman recipients 1979 births Writers from Paris Living people 21st-century translators Prix Médicis essai winners