Jean-Claude Mourlevat
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Jean-Claude Mourlevat (born March 22, 1952) is a French writer, known for his fairy-tale, fable, and fantasy-inspired novels intended for young people,[1] for which he has won multiple awards, including the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.[2] He also wrote a French novel named "La rivière a l'envers 1. Tomek" which also has a second version called "La rivière a l'envers 2. Hannah".
Mourlevat was born March 22, 1952, in Ambert, the fifth of six children, and the son of a miller and homemaker.[3][1] He spent his childhood in Auvergne,[4] where he "helped tend the family farm, where they raised cows, pigs, rabbits, and hens."[3]
Beginning in 1962, he attended the Blaise Pascal boarding school, where he "spent eight years at a boarding school...[;] the rules were harsh, the teachers strict and he felt constantly homesick and unhappy. He has said in interviews that literature became his salvation."[1] He later evoked this part of his life in an autobiographical novel Je voudrais rentrer à la maison.
He continued his higher education in Strasbourg, Toulouse, Bonn, and Paris.[5] He obtained a secondary degree in German, a language he taught from 1976 to 1985, first at a school in La Bourboule, then in Hamburg, and finally at a college in Cany-Barville, where he remained for 5 years.[6]
Following his time in Cany-Barville, Mourlevat devoted himself to theatre.[7] After spending time performing as a mime, clown, and actor,[1] he moved on to directing plays before devoting himself to writing.
In 1997, Mourlevat published his first novel, Histoire de l'enfant et de l'œuf. He is the author of La Rivière à l'envers, L'Enfant Océan, La Balafre, Le Combat d'Hiver, and Le Chagrin du roi mort, among others. Several of Mourlevat's novels have won literary prizes from juries of young readers or adults, such as the Prix des Incorruptibles and the Prix Sorcières. Mourlevat's books have been translated into nearly thirty languages, including Braille.[8]
In late 2019, Mourlevat attended a six-week "Room with a View" writing residency in San Francisco, funded by the Institut français.[6]
Mourlevat presently lives near Saint-Étienne with his wife (Rachel)[3] and their two children.[5]
Awards and honors
In 2021, Mourlevat won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.[9]
| Year | Title | Award | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | L’Enfant océan | Prix Sorcières | [1] |
| 2002 | La rivière à l’envers | Prix des incorruptibles | [1] |
| 2005 | La balade de Cornebique | Prix Bernard Versele | [10] |
| 2006 | Le Combat d’hiver | Prix jeunesse France Télévisions | [10] |
| 2007 | Winter's End | Prix Saint-Exupéry for Prix Roman | |
| 2007 | The Pull of the Ocean | Mildred L. Batchelder Award | [10] |
| 2011 | Terrienne | Prix Utopiales Europen Jeuness | [10] |
| 2013 | Terrienne | Prix Ados Rennes Ille-et-Vilaine | |
| 2019 | Jefferson | Prix des libraires du Québec | [10] |
