‘Jean Echenoz’

French author Jean Echenoz is best known among the reading public for the Prix Goncourt-winning I’m Off, which sold over 400,000 copies. However, he’s been writing literary gems for over four decades, and is considered one of France’s greatest living writers. His novels deal with diverse subjects such as the art trade, the First World War, the composer Maurice Ravel and the inventor Nikola Tesla. The ingenious plots of his novels are often complex and full of humour and irony. He combines and parodies elements from genres as varied as the adventure novel, the crime thriller and the love story. In doing so he challenges all manner of literary conventions, causing confusion and curiosity among his readers. 

On the occasion of his new novel Vie de Gérard Fulmard, which will be published in January, Echenoz is coming to BOZAR. After a succession of professional fiascos, Gérard Fulmard ends up an accomplice in a minor political party. He is convinced that it is pure coincidence that he finds himself in this perilous situation, but isn’t coincidence often just a failure (or refusal) to recognise causes?

Echenoz comes to BOZAR on the occasion of his new novel and talks with the literary journaliste Ysaline Parisis (Le Vif/L'Express)​​​​​​​.