Annie Ernaux, a French author and writer, has been awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature for what the panel called an “uncompromising” 50-year body of work exploring ideas and disparities seen in gender, language and class.
Ms Ernaux is 82 years old and is the first French woman to win the esteemed literary prize. Her works are largely autobiographical and include books like A Man’s Place and A Woman’s Story, both considered classics in France.
According to the BBC, this award is given by the Swedish Academy and is worth £807,000. It also said that the chair of the awarding committee, Anders Olsson praised Ms Ernaux as having work that remains “admirable and enduring”.
Commenting on her win, she said that the award had created a responsibility to continue the fight against injustice and to maintain the struggle for the rights and needs of “women and the oppressed”.
President of France Emmanuel Macron congratulated her and said that her voice is “that of the freedom of women and of the forgotten”.
Dr. Ruth Cruickshank, a specialist in contemporary French fiction at the University of London, said: “When a woman wins the Nobel Prize for Literature it is always great news. Thirteen dead and two living white French men have been Nobel laureates since 1901.
“She explores memories of life experiences – both extraordinary and relatable – a backstreet abortion; failed affairs whether with a lover in Russia or a man 30 years younger; the death of her parents; breast cancer.”
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