Nadine Nicole Claire Ribault (; 20 January 1964 – 15 January 2021) was a French novelist, short story writer and translator.

Life and career

Ribault was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

on 20 January 1964. She graduated from

La Sorbonne The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

with a bachelor's degree in French literature. She taught French and French literature in France and Japan. Ribault's first book of short stories ''Un caillou à la mer'' was published in 1999. It was translated into English by Jean Anderson and published under the title ''A Pebble in the Sea''. Her first novel ''Festina Lente'' was published in 2000. In 2002 she was the first French recipient of the Randell Cottage Writers' Residency in New Zealand. As part of this residency she spent five months living and working at Randell Cottage in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, and wrote her second collection of short stories, ''Cœur anxieux''. She also had a poem published in ''Poetry New Zealand''. In 2012, she said of her experience in New Zealand (translated by Jean Anderson): In 2006 Ribault and Anderson collaborated on the first French translation of

Janet Frame Janet Paterson Frame (28 August 1924 – 29 January 2004) was a New Zealand author. She is internationally renowned for her work, which includes novels, short stories, poetry, juvenile fiction, and an autobiography, and received numerous award ...

's book of short stories, ''The Lagoon and Other Stories''. It was published as ''Le Lagon et Autres Nouvelles'' by

Éditions des Femmes Éditions des Femmes is a French feminist publishing house that was launched in 1972, mainly by women of the collective ''Psychanalyse et politique'' led by Antoinette Fouque, with other activists of the MLF, and funded by the patron Sylvina Boisso ...

. A review in ''New Zealand Books'' describes it as a "tour de force" which respects Frame's language and style choices. In the same year, Ribault's novel ''Le vent et la lumière'' was published. She was married to economist Thierry Ribault, and they had one daughter. Together with Thierry she published ''Les sanctuaires de l'abîme – chronique du désastre de Fukushima'' (Éditions de l'Encyclopédie des Nuisances, 2012), a work which criticised the response of the Japanese government to the

Fukushima nuclear accident The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, whic ...

. In 2012 she also published ''Carnets des Cévennes'' and ''Carnets des Cornouailles'' with Éditions Le mot et le reste. Ribault's historical novel ''Les Ardents'', set in the 11th century, was published in 2019. She died on 15 January 2021 at Condette.

References

External links

"Tears Before Bedtime"
short story by Ribault, translated into English by Jean Anderson {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribault, Nadine 1964 births 2021 deaths Writers from Paris University of Paris alumni 21st-century French novelists 21st-century French short story writers 21st-century French women writers 21st-century French translators 21st-century French non-fiction writers French women novelists French women short story writers French women non-fiction writers English–French translators