Mathias Énard, born in 1972 in Niort, France, studied Persian and Arabic and has spent long periods in the Middle East. He has won several awards including the Prix du Livre Inter and the Prix Décembre. For Compass, he won the 2015 Prix Goncourt, the 2017 Leipziger Book Award for European Understanding, the Premio Gregor von Rezzori, and was shortlisted for 2017’s International Booker Prize. Énard’s most recent novel, The Deserters, translated by C. Mandell, was longlisted for 2026’s International Booker. His work is published in Italy by Edizioni E/O and in England by Fitzcarraldo.

Photo by Pierre Marquès.