Camille Laurens

Camille Laurens
Born	Laurence Ruel (1957-11-06) 6 November 1957 (age 66) Dijon, France
Pen name	Camille Laurens
Language	French
Notable works	Dans ces bras-là (2000)
Notable awards	Prix Femina (2000)

Laurence Ruel (born 6 November 1957),^[1] known by her pen name Camille Laurens, is a French writer and winner of the 2000 Prix Femina for Dans ces bras-là.^[2] Laurens is a member of the Académie Goncourt.

Career

A graduate of humanities, Camille Laurens taught in Rouen in Normandy. In 1984, she began teaching in Morocco, where she spent twelve years. Since September 2011, she has taught at Sciences Po.^[3]

Between 2007 and 2019, she was a member of the jury for the Prix Femina. She had been a member of the Académie Goncourt since 11 February 2020.^[4]

Fiction and autofiction

Although meant to be read separately, the alphabetical titling of the chapters of four of Camille Laurens' first novels—Index (1991), Romance (1992), Les Travaux d’Hercule (1994), and L’Avenir (1998)—suggest a tetralogy. They are characterized by a high degree of fantasy and what Philippe Savary has described as "an abiding reflection on the relationship between fiction and reality, illusion and truth."^[5]

The death of a child in 1994 inspired first Philippe (1995) then, again, Cet absent-là (2004) and a deep transformation of her art away from fiction per se and toward

Essays and other publishing activities

In addition to fiction, Camille Laurens has authored several essays. Les Fiancées du Diable (2011) studies the representation of women in art and the extent to which the feminine is taboo in collective consciousness and, thus, in works of art. The act of repetition—whether in serial painting, the poetic rime, or else neurosis—is the subject of Encore et jamais (2013). In La Petite Danseuse de quatorze ans (2017), Laurens reconstructs the life of Marie van Goethem, who served as model for Edgar Degas.

Since 2002, Camille Laurens has regularly chronicled literary works in national newspapers: notably in "Écritures," appearing monthly from 2015 to 2019 in

Controversy

In September 2021, the Prix Goncourt attracted controversy after the jury decided, by a vote of 7 to 3, to include Les enfants de Cadillac by François Noudelmann on its 2021 list of finalists. Laurens, who is a member of the prize's jury, is the partner of Noudelmann. Laurens voted in favor of her partner's book. It also emerged that shortly after the shortlist was revealed Laurens had written a negative review in Le Monde of one of Noudelmann's competitors for the prize, La Carte postale by Anne Berest. France Inter, who first revealed the conflict of interest, described her review as containing "unheard-of brutality". Laurens defended herself, saying that she wrote the review before the Goncourt selected its finalists. She also claimed she was being attacked for being a woman and not on the substance of her arguments in the review. However, historian Jean-Yves Mollier said, "She straight-out assassinated one of the candidates."^[6] In October 2021, the Académie Goncourt ultimately decided that it will no longer allow lovers and family members of the jury to be entered for consideration.^[7]

Awards and honours

• 2000: Prix Femina for Dans ces bras-là
• 2000: Prix Renaudot des lycéens for Dans ces bras-là
• 2006: Finalist in the first selection for the Prix Goncourt for Ni toi ni moi^[8]
• 2006:
  Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres^[9]
• 2008: Prix Bourgogne de littérature for Tissé par mille
• 2016: Prix du Roman-News for Celle que vous croyez[10]
• 2018: Prix David de l'expertise for La Petite Danseuse de 14 ans^[11]
• 2018: Prix Ève-Delacroix of the Académie Française for La Petite Danseuse de 14 ans^[12]
• 2020: Best Book of the Year by the magazine Lire for Fille^[13]

Works

• L'amour, roman. Paris: P.O.L. 2003.
  OCLC 51898498
  .
• Dans ces bras-là. Paris: P.O.L. 2000.
  OCLC 45420418
  .
  • In his arms : a novel. Monk, Ian (translator). (1st U.S. ed.). New York: Random House. 2004.
    OCLC 52839016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  • In those arms. Monk, Ian. London: Bloomsbury. 2003.
    OCLC 52738648.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
• Laurens, Camille (21 September 2023). Celle que vous croyez. [Paris].
  OCLC 991711239.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
  )
  • Who you think I am. New York. 2017.
    OCLC 960762435.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
• Jardins de cristal : Baccarat, Daum, Lalique, St-Louis. Dupont-Rougier, Vincent, 1966- ..., Pôle verrier (Lorraine), Lorraine. Conseil régional. [Paris]: Gallimard. 2008.
  OCLC 470880548.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
  )
• Romance nerveuse : roman. [Paris]: Gallimard. 2010.
  OCLC 513673739
  .
• Les fiancées du Diable enquête sur les femmes terrifiantes. Paris: Editions du Toucan. 2011.
  OCLC 800481629
  .
• Les travaux d'Hercule : roman. Paris: Gallimard. 2012.
  OCLC 872671200
  .
• Romance : roman. [Paris]: Gallimard. 2012.
  OCLC 798397522
  .
• Le grain des mots. Paris: Gallimard. 2011.
  OCLC 820529482
  .
• L'avenir : roman. Paris: Gallimard. 2013.
  OCLC 848706927
  .
• Ni toi ni moi roman. [Paris]: Gallimard. 21 September 2023.
  OCLC 893787747
  .
• La petite danseuse de quatorze ans. Paris: Stock. 2017.
  OCLC 1003642990
  .
  • Little Dancer Aged Fourteen: The True Story Behind Degas's Masterpiece. Other Press. 2018.[14]
• Fille. Paris: Gallimard. 2010.
  • Girl. Translated by Adriana Hunter. New York: Other Press. 2022.

References