French author Annie Ernaux was named the winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature on October 6, for what the judges called “the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements, collective restraints of personal memory.” PW's Maria Simson interviewed Ernaux in late 1996 during a trip to the U.S. to promote Exteriors, which was released here in an English-language translation by Seven Stories Press. In the interview, Ernaux discussed how growing up in Normandy and her relationship with her parents influenced her novels. She also explained why she chose to keep her distance from the French literary scene, noting how that “little world” is alien to the lives of her readers. “I believe that writing has nothing to do with those little ceremonies,” she said. “In the final count, writing is an attempt to understand through words the things of this world. It is an attempt to create links between people.”
From the Archive: December 9, 1996 by Publishers Weekly on Scribd
