Writers from \u00cele-de-France

Louis-Ferdinand_Celine

Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( say-LEEN, French: [lwi fɛʁdinɑ̃ selin] ), was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel Journey to the End of the Night (1932) won the Prix Renaudot but divided critics due to the author's pessimistic depiction of the human condition and his writing style based on working-class speech. In subsequent novels such as Death on the Installment Plan (1936), Guignol's Band (1944) and Castle to Castle (1957) Céline further developed an innovative and distinctive literary style. Maurice Nadeau wrote: "What Joyce did for the English language...what the surrealists attempted to do for the French language, Céline achieved effortlessly and on a vast scale."From 1937 Céline wrote a series of antisemitic polemical works in which he advocated a military alliance with Nazi Germany. He continued to publicly espouse antisemitic views during the German occupation of France, and after the Allied landing in Normandy in 1944, he fled to Germany and then Denmark where he lived in exile. He was convicted of collaboration by a French court in 1951 but was pardoned by a military tribunal soon after. He returned to France where he resumed his careers as a doctor and author. Céline is widely considered to be one of the greatest French novelists of the 20th century but remains a controversial figure in France due to his antisemitism and activities during the Second World War.

Pierre_Daix

Pierre Georges Daix (24 May 1922 – 2 November 2014) was a French journalist, writer and art historian. He was a friend and biographer of Pablo Picasso.As a young man, Daix was an ardent Stalinist. He joined the French Communist Party at the age of 17 in 1939 when the Communist Party was banned for supporting the German-Soviet pact. In July 1940, he created a student club, the Centre laïque des auberges de la jeunesse (Claj), which served as a legal screen for the clandestine Union of Communist Students.When David Rousset (1912-1997) spoke out about Stalin's vast system of prison camps, Daix attacked him as a liar, denying that the GULAG system existed in the Soviet Union, in a 16 page article in Les Lettres Françaises, entitled "Pourquoi M. David Rousset a-t-il inventé les camps soviétiques?". Rousset brought libel charges against Daix and there was a public trial in France, which Rousset, who had told the truth about the camps, won in 1950. As a French communist, Daix continued his uncritical support for the Soviet Union for many years, though late in life he admitted he had been wrong.From 1980 to 1985, he was a journalist for Le Quotidien de Paris.

Christophe_Bouchet

Christophe Bouchet (born 12 November 1962) is a French former journalist at Le Nouvel Observateur. He was the president of French football club Olympique de Marseille from spring 2002 to November 2004. Now, Christophe Bouchet is the president of Easi Marketing, a marketing company who especially works with Toulouse FC.

Olivier_Adam

Olivier Adam (born 12 July 1974) is a French author and screenwriter. His debut novel Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas (Don't worry, I am fine) was adapted into the eponym film. He also writes books for young adults, among them La messe anniversaire. Adam won the 2004 Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle for Passer l'hiver.
He grew up in the Paris suburbs and now lives in Brittany near Saint-Malo. He participated in the creation of the literary festival Correspondence Manosque. Also a screenwriter, he has participated in writing Don't Worry, I'm Fine (2006) and Welcome (2009).