Hervé Le Tellier


Hervé Le Tellier is a French writer and linguist, and a member of the international literary group Oulipo. He is its fourth president. Other notable members have included Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec, Italo Calvino, Jacques Roubaud, Jean Lescure and Harry Mathews. He won the 2020 Prix Goncourt for The Anomaly.

Biography

Born in Paris, Le Tellier started his career as a scientific journalist, and joined Oulipo in 1992. As an author, he came to general attention in 1998 with the publication in France of his book Les amnésiques n'ont rien vécu d'inoubliable, a collection of one thousand very short sentences all beginning with "Je pense que", published in English as A Thousand Pearls . His rather complex novel Le voleur de nostalgie is a tribute to the Italian writer Italo Calvino. He is also one of the participants of Papous dans la tête, the cult literary quiz of France Culture, the French cultural radio station.
He became in 2002 a daily contributor to the website of the newspaper Le Monde with a short satirical chronicle called Papier de verre.
He founded, with Frederic Pages and others, the "Association of Friends of Jean-Baptiste Botul" to promote this fictitious philosopher and his school of "Botulism".
One of his most recent publications is Esthétique de l’Oulipo, a very personal essay on literature under constraint, considered from a linguistic perspective.
Seven of his books have been translated into English, from Enough about love to The Sextine Chapel.

Award

Published books

  • Sonates de bar, short stories, 1991.
  • Le Voleur de nostalgie, novel, 1992.
  • La Disparition de Perek, 1997.
  • Les amnésiques n'ont rien vécu d'inoubliable, 1998
  • Inukshuk, 1998, videograms by Jean-Baptiste Decavèle.
  • Joconde jusqu'à cent, 1999.
  • Zindien, 2000, poetry, illustrated by Henri Cueco.
  • Encyclopaedia Inutilis, short stories, 2002.
  • Joconde sur votre indulgence, 2002.
  • Cités de mémoire, 2003,
  • La Chapelle Sextine, novel, 2005.
  • Esthétique de l'Oulipo, essay, 2006.
  • Je m'attache très facilement, novel, 2007.
  • Les Opossums célèbres, poetry, portmanteau words, illustrated by Xavier Gorce, 2007.Assez parlé d'amour, novel, Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès, 2009.L'Herbier des villes, urban haïkaï, Éditions Textuel, 2010.Eléctrico W, novel, Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès, 2011.Contes liquides, written under the nom de plume Jaime Montestrela, short stories, Éditions de l'Attente, 2013, Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir.Demande au muet, socratic dialogs, Editions Nous, 2014.Moi et François Mitterrand, 2016, Editions Jean-Claude Lattes.Toutes les familles heureuses, 2017, Editions Jean-Claude Lattes⁴.L'anomalie, 2020, Éditions GallimardLe nom sur le mur, 2024, Éditions Gallimard

In English

The Sextine Chapel, translated by Ian Monk, Dalkey Archive Press, 2011. A Thousand Pearls (for a Thousand Pennies), translated by Ian Monk, Dalkey Archive Press, 2011,.Enough About Love, translated by Adriana Hunter, Other Press, 2011, The Intervention of a Good Man, translated by Adriana Hunter, Other Press, 2011, Electrico W, translated by Adriana Hunter, Other Press, 2013,. For her translation, Adriana Hunter won the 27th Annual Translation Prize founded by the French-American Foundation and the Florence Gould Foundation.All happy families, translated by Adriana Hunter, Other Press, March 2019,.Atlas inutilis, in French Contes liquides, "Fluid fables", translated by Cole Swensen, Black Square Editions, 2018,.The Anomaly, translated by Adriana Hunter, Other Press, November 2021,.

In English, with Oulipo

Oulipo Compendium, Atlas Press, 1998Winter Journeys, Atlas Press, 2000