Philippe Besson
{{Short description|French writer (born 1967)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{Writer
| name = Philippe Besson
| image = Philippe Besson salon radio france 2011.jpg
| caption = Besson at Radio France
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|29 January 1967}}
| birth_place = Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, Charente, France
| occupation = {{cslist | Author | Screenwriter }}
| subject = {{cslist | Fiction | Novel | Theater }}
| notable_works = {{unbulleted list|In the Absence of Men|Lie with Me }}
| awards = {{unbulleted list|Prix Emmanuel Roblès | Prix Maison de la Presse }}
| alma_mater = Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen
| nationality = French
| language = French
}}
Philippe Besson (born 29 January 1967) is a French writer, playwright and screenwriter.{{Cite web |url=http://www.culturesfrance.com/adpf-publi/fiction/FF02_BESSON_ANG.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107005128/http://www.culturesfrance.com/adpf-publi/fiction/FF02_BESSON_ANG.pdf |archive-date=2009-01-07 |url-status=dead }} Besson was born in Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, Charente, and has written a total of 23 novels, several of which have been adapted for cinema or theater.
Life
Besson grew up the child of schoolteacher father and a notary clerk mother. Besson was often mocked by his classmates because of his appearance, his clothes and his manners. During his final school year, he fell in love with a peasant's son in his village in Charente, but they were forced to hide their relationship.{{Cite web |date=2017-08-07 |title="Arrête avec tes mensonges", le roman autobiographique de Philippe Besson |url=https://www.rts.ch/info/culture/livres/8810860-arrete-avec-tes-mensonges-le-roman-autobiographique-de-philippe-besson.html |access-date=2023-09-11 |website=rts.ch |language=fr}} Besson attended l'École supérieure de commerce de Rouen, now called Neoma Business School.
In 1999, Besson, a law graduate, was inspired to write his first novel, En l'absence des hommes, while reading of accounts of ex-servicemen during the First World War.{{cite web |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-64_3965/literature_3981/contemporary-writers_3986/the-world-according-to-philippe-besson_5394.html |title=Contemporary writers - The world according to Philippe Besson - Ministère des Affaires étrangères |website=www.diplomatie.gouv.fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015103944/http://diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-64_3965/literature_3981/contemporary-writers_3986/the-world-according-to-philippe-besson_5394.html |archive-date=2007-10-15}}
The novel won the Prix Emmanuel Roblès.
Besson's second novel, Son Frère was shortlisted for the Prix Femina, and adapted for cinema by Patrice Chéreau in 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.fandango.com/philippebesson/filmography/p132053 |title=Philippe Besson Filmography |website=www.fandango.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615023626/http://www.fandango.com/philippebesson/filmography/p132053 |archive-date=2011-06-15}}
The film was well received and won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2003/juryLongFilm.html |title=Festival de Cannes - From 11 to 22 may 2011 |website=www.festival-cannes.fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203071939/http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2003/juryLongFilm.html |archive-date=2010-12-03}}
Besson's novel Arrête avec tes mensonges (published in English under the title Lie with Me) received critical acclaim, became a bestseller in France, and won several awards including the Prix Maison de la Presse and Prix Psychologies du roman inspirant.{{Cite web |title=Le prix Maison de la presse révèle sa sélection finale 2017 |url=http://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/le-prix-maison-de-la-presse-revele-sa-selection-finale-2017 |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Livres Hebdo |language=fr}}{{Cite web |title=Prix Psychologies du Roman {{!}} Livres Hebdo |url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http://www.livreshebdo.fr/prix-litteraires/tous-les-prix/prix-psychologies-du-roman#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=archive.wikiwix.com}}{{Cite news |last=Hadley |first=Tessa |date=2019-09-06 |title=Lie With Me by Philippe Besson review – a French bestseller |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/06/lie-with-me-philippe-besson-review |access-date=2023-09-10 |issn=0261-3077}} The book was adapted in 2022 into a movie of the same name, which premiered in the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival on August 27, 2022.{{cite web |title=Arrête avec tes mensonges {{!}} Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême |url=https://filmfrancophone.fr/fr/program-guide/film/arrete-avec-tes-mensonges |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême |language=fr}}{{cite web |title=Lie with Me (2022) - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18626656 |access-date=3 April 2023 |website=IMDB}} The novel was also adapted into a play performed in January 2023 at the Théâtre de la Tempête in Paris.{{Cite web |last=tablette |first=Théâtral magazine actualité et critiques du théâtre sur papier, web et |title=Philippe Besson voit son roman Arrête avec tes mensonges adapté au théâtre de la Tempête - (03/01/23) |url=http://www.theatral-magazine.com/actualites-philippe-besson-voit-son-roman-arrete-avec-tes-mensonges-adapte-au-theatre-de-la-tempete-030123.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.theatral-magazine.com |language=fr}}
Major works
- En l'absence des hommes, Éditions Julliard, 2001, {{ISBN|9782260015642}}
- In the Absence of Men, translated by Frank Wynne, Heinemann 2003, Carroll & Graf, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-7867-1161-1}}
- Son frère, Julliard, 2001, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01586-4}}
- His Brother, translated by Frank Wynne, Heinemann, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-434-01211-4}}
- L'arrière saison, Julliard, 2002, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01610-6}} (inspired by Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks)
- Un garçon d'Italie, Julliard, 2003, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01642-7}} (which was shortlisted for both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis.)
- Les Jours fragiles, Julliard, 2004, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01641-0}} (focussing on the last days of Rimbaud, it has been optioned by François Dupeyron for the cinema.)
- Un instant d'abandon: roman, Julliard, 2005, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01681-6}}
- Se résoudre aux adieux: roman, Julliard, 2007, {{ISBN|978-2-260-01726-4}}
- The Accidental Man
- Arrête avec tes mensonges, Éditions Julliard, 2017, {{ISBN|9782260029885}}
- Lie with Me, translated by Molly Ringwald, Scribner, 2019, {{ISBN|9780241987094}}
- Un Personnage de Roman - Macron par Besson, French and European Publications Inc, 2017, {{ISBN|978-1547902231}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20101124214709/https://www.speakitsname.com/2009/06/03/review-in-the-absence-of-men-by-philippe-besson/ "Review: In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson"], Speak its name
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Besson, Philippe}}
Category:21st-century French male writers
Category:21st-century French novelists
Category:Bisexual male writers
Category:French bisexual writers
Category:French LGBTQ novelists
Category:French male novelists