Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, formerly a visiting faculty member at UNM, is the 2008 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Le Clézio has written more than 30 books since 1963. Le Clézio was visiting faculty of modern and classical languages at UNM, 1977-78 and 1984-85, and visiting faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, 1992-93, when he also held the PNM Endowed Chair.
Photo: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, 2008 Nobel Prize recipient in Literature
“He’s received a number of prestigious awards; this is just the culmination,” said UNM French Professor Walter Putnam, who has known Le Clézio for more than 15 years.
“He’s very attached to New Mexico and Amerindian cultures and Hispanic cultures,” Putnam said. He said Le Clézio still lives and writes in Albuquerque periodically.
Le Clézio has travelled widely, and now divides his time between New Mexico, Nice and Mauritius. He was born in 1940 in Nice, and has family connections with the former French colony, Mauritius. He has also lived in Nigeria, England, Thailand, Mexico and Central America.
From early on, Le Clézio has been an ecologically engaged author. His novels hinge upon thresholds – the transformation from childhood into adulthood, confrontations between cultures, and points where past, present and future collide. His recent work has moved toward an exploration of his own family history. In a telephone interview with Nobelprize.org, Le Clézio said, “Writing for me is like travelling.”
Though he grew up bilingual, Le Clézio writes in French, with some works translated into English. “He has said his real homeland is the French language, which he takes where he is,” Putnam said.
Media Contact: Susan McKinsey, (505) 277-1807; e-mail: mckinsey@unm.edu