Pascal Quignard

French musician, essayist, novelist, translator (from Latin and Chinese), author of the novel All the World’s Mornings, on which in 1991 Alain Corneau based a famous film by the same title, which was screened in over 30 countries. Winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2002 for the book Les Ombres Errantes (The Wandering Shadows). He comes from an educated family, his parents were Classical Languages professors, he has three siblings. He spent his childhood in le Havre. He graduated in philosophy at the University of Nanterre. In 1969 he started working as a narrator for Gallimard publishers, where he was gradually promoted – in 1976 he became part of the publishing committee, in 1989 he became a member of the board and a year later he took on the position as General Manager. Apart from working for the publishers, Quignard lectured at the university in Vincennes and in École pratique des hautes études, and translated from ancient Greek, Latin and Chinese. In the period 1990 – 1993 he was chairman of Concert des Nations. He plays the cello and is one of the founding members of the Baroque Opera Festival in Versailles. He stopped working at Gallimard in 1994. Since then he has devoted himself exclusively to writing. The most important works of Pascal Quignard are Albucius, P.O.L., 1990; Tous les matins du monde, Gallimard, 1991; Le sexe et L'Effroi, Gallimard, 1994; Terrasse à Rome, Gallimard, 2000; Les ombres errantes (Dernier Royaume, Tome I), Grasset, 2002; Sur le jadis (Dernier Royaume, Tome II), Grasset, 2002; Abîmes (Dernier Royaume, Tome III), Grasset, 2002; Les paradisiaques (Dernier Royaume, Tome IV), Grasset, 2005; Sordidissimes (Dernier Royaume, Tome V), Grasset, 2005; Towards the end of 2008 the author’s latest book was published in Poland by słowo/obraz terytoria entitled La nuit sexuelle (The Sexual Night) with an excellent translation into Polish by Krzysztof Rutkowski. Despite his unquestionable world fame, Quignard is also called “the most iconoclastic contemporary French writer”.