Amélie Nothomb

Amélie Nothomb is a Belgian novelist born in 1966 in Étterbeek, Brussels. The daughter of a Belgian diplomat, she grew up in Japan, China, Bangladesh, the United States, and elsewhere, giving her a cosmopolitan and profoundly displaced perspective. She has published a novel every year since her debut Hygiène de l'assassin in 1992, making her one of the most prolific serious novelists in the Francophone world. Nothomb is known for novels that are short, highly crafted, and often darkly comic, exploring power, language, identity, and the grotesque. Her autobiographical novels about Japan — Stupeur et tremblements (Fear and Trembling, 1999), which won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française — are among her best-known works internationally. Premier Sang (First Blood), her 2021 Prix Renaudot winner, is an autobiographical novel imagining her father's near-death experience during a coup attempt in Laos in 1965, written in his voice. The novel is a meditation on mortality, courage, and the bond between parent and child. Nothomb is one of the most popular and beloved literary figures in France and Belgium, recognized by her distinctive style, her signature bowler hat, and her remarkable consistency as an annual publisher of serious fiction.