Philippe Besson

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Philippe Besson (January 29, 1967, Barbezieux, Charente) is a French writer.

In 1999, Besson, a law graduate, was inspired to write his first novel, En l'absence des hommes ("In the Absence of Man", Heinemann 2003, translated by Frank Wynne) while reading of accounts of ex-serviceman during the First World War. Published in 2001, by Juillard, the novel, with its daring inclusion of Marcel Proust as a central character, won the Emmanuel-Roblès prize. Besson's second novel, Son Frère (His Brother) was shortlisted for the Prix Femina, and adapted for cinema by Patrice Chéreau in 2003. The film was well received and won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Since then, he has published a number of novels which have not been translated into English:

• L'arrière saison, 2002 (inspired by Edward Hopper's painting Nighthawks)
• Un garçon d'Italie, 2003 (which was shortllistedf for both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis.)
• Les Jours fragiles, 2004 (focussing on the last days of Rimbaud, it has been optioned by François Dupeyron for the cinema.)