Curbstone Press author wins Nobel Prize

A French novelist whose work has been published by Curbstone Press in Willimantic has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2008.

A French novelist whose work has been published locally by Curbstone Press in Willimantic,  Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2008.

Among Le Clézio's most recent works are Wandering Star, published by Curbstone Press in 2004. It is a novel about a two young girls caught up in the turmoil of the Middle East, who aspire for peace—Esther, a Jewish girl who takes part in the founding of Israel, and Nejma, a Palestinian girl who becomes a refugee.

Le Clézio has written more than 30 novels, essays, story collections and translations. The Swedish Academy honored Le Clézio as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."

A review in the French magazine Le Monde, notes that in Wandering Star  Le Clézio does not moralize or take a political stance: "He goes much farther than that, much deeper; he seeks the signs of human misery and of potential peace at the very heart of life, in a confrontation with time and the elements, with the sun and the earth, with birth and death, with the mystery of origins and the enigma of the future, with the necessity of both remembering and forgetting, without which nothing can be healed."

Le Clézio was born in Nice, France in 1940 and after completing his undergraduate degree in literature at the University of Nice, he continued his studies in England.

Le Clézio and his wife share their time between Albuquerque, New Mexico, the island of Mauritius and Nice.

Le Clézio is expected to receive his Nobel Prize award at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on Dec. 10.

[Wandering Star is available at Curbstone Press. For more information visit www.curbstone.org or call 423-5110.]

Curbstone also will hold its 33rd Anniversary Fundraiser this Sunday, Oct. 12, from 2 to 5 p.m., at the offices of Curbstone Press, 321 Jackson St. in Willimantic. Come enjoy music, beverages and finger foods. Meet Curbstone's authors, board members, staff and supporters. And there will be door prizes. For those who have not yet donated in 2008, the suggested donation is $35. Please RSVP via e-mail to info@curbstone.org or call 423-5110.