Michael Ferrier


Michaël Ferrier is a French writer, novelist and essayist, living in Tokyo.

Biography

Ferrier was born in Strasbourg. He comes from a French family and also from Mauritian Creole people and Réunion Creole people, with Indian, French, Malagasy and British origins. After a nomadic childhood, he gained entrance to the highly selective École Normale Supérieure, at the age of 18, where he passed the agrégation in literature and graduated from the University of Paris. He is currently Professor at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, and director of the Research Group Figures de l'Etranger.

Works

Ferrier has published several novels and essays, whose interdisciplinary work includes several books on Japan, which has become a standard reference in the field.
His first novel, Tokyo, petits portraits de l’aube, Gallimard, 2004, has been awarded the Prix Littéraire de l’Asie 2005.
His novel Sympathie pour le Fantôme portrays multiple voices and embraces the contradictions and complexity of French national identity. It has been awarded the Prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée.
His book about Fukushima is a major study on the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear accident, that has roused the interest of writers and philosophers like Philippe Sollers and Jean-Luc Nancy.
Ferrier has also been awarded the 2012 Prix Edouard Glissant.

Awards and honours

Michaël Ferrier was shortlisted three times for the Prix Femina and three times for the Prix Décembre.
;Novels
;Essays
;Screenplay
;In english