# Philippe Vilain

Philippe Vilain (born 1969) is a French man of letters, writer, essayist, doctor of modern literature of the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle.

## Biography

His literary work presents itself as an exploration of the consciousness of love: jealousy (L'Étreinte), the guilt of not loving enough (Le Renoncement), commitment (L'Été à Dresde), adultery (Paris l'après-midi, La Femme infidèle), paternity (Faux-père), shyness (Confession d’un timide), cultural and social difference (Pas son genre).
His theoretical work questions contemporary literature (Dans le séjour des corps. Essai sur Marguerite Duras) and Autofiction. A new defining pact is advanced in L’autofiction en théorie; Fiction homonymique ou anominale qu’un individu fait de sa vie ou d’une partie de celle-ci.
After La Dernière Année (adapted to theatre -Proscenium- by Jean-Paul Muel [fr] in 2002,) Paris l’après-midi (prix François-Mauriac of the Académie française 2007,) Pas son genre, his seventh novel (prix Scrivere per amore 2012 in Italy,) was the subject of a cinematographic adaptation by director Lucas Belvaux in 2014, under the same title.
In April 2013, at the International Symposium Les intermittences du sujet : écritures de soi et discontinu (1913-2013), the University of Upper Alsace welcomed Philippe Vilain for a day of study on his work. A university book was published following this study day: Philippe Vilain ou la dialectique des genres, under the direction of Arnaud Schmitt and Philippe Weigel, which brought together contributions of Pierre Brunel [fr], Jean Pierrot, Marc Dambre and Frédérique Toudoire-Surlapierre.
His novel La Femme infidèle was awarded the Prix Jean-Freustié in 2013.
Villain is an associate member of the CERACC (Centre d’Etudes sur le Roman des Années Cinquante au Contemporain) at the university Sorbonne-Nouvelle Paris III.

## Works
### Novels

* 1997: L'Étreinte, Éditions Gallimard, ISBN 2070750647
* 1999: La Dernière Année, Gallimard, ISBN 2070756580
* 2001: Le Renoncement, novel, Gallimard, ISBN 2070763064
* 2003: L'Été à Dresde, novel, Gallimard, ISBN 2070727904
* 2006: Paris l'après-midi, Éditions Grasset, ISBN 2246672813, Prix François Mauriac of the Académie française 2007
* 2008: Faux-père, Grasset, ISBN 2246717310
* 2011: Pas son genre, Grasset, ISBN 2246771013, (reissued in 2014 at the time of the cinematographic adaptation of Lucas Belvaux Pas son genre), Prix Scrivere per amore 2012 in Italy
* 2013: La Femme infidèle, Grasset, ISBN 2246792037, Prix Jean Freustié 2013
* 2015: Une idée de l'enfer, Grasset

### Essays

* 2005: Défense de Narcisse, followed by an interview with Serge Doubrovsky, Grasset
* 2005: Retours à Hugo, photographs by Jean-Luc Chapin, Confluences
* 2009: L'Autofiction en théorie, followed by two interviews with Philippe Sollers and Philippe Lejeune, La Transparence
* 2009: Confession d'un timide, Grasset
* 2010: Dans le séjour des corps. Essay on Marguerite Duras, La Transparence, series "Essais d'esthétique"
* 2011: Dit-il. Based on L'Été 80 [fr] by Marguerite Duras, éditions Cécile Defaut
* 2011: Éloge de l'arrogance, Éditions du Rocher
* 2016: La littérature sans idéal, Grasset, ISBN 2246809177
* 2020: La Passion d'Orphée, Grasset.

### Preface

* Le donjuanisme est un humanisme, preface Don Juan [1665] by Molière, Hatier, 2009.

### Interviews

* Je interdit ?, information gathered by Anne Crignon, Le Nouvel Observateur, n° 2101, 10–16 February 2005.
* Philippe Vilain l’immoraliste, information gathered by Emmanuelle Desforges, Littéréalité (University of Toronto), vol. XVIII, n° 2, Autumn/Winter 2006, p. 27-33.
* Entre Egoismo e generosidade, interview with Miguel Conde, O Globo, Prosa § Verso (Brazil), 17 November 2007.
* L’amour, comme pour Stendhal, est ma grande affaire, interview with Vincent Roy. Transfuge, April 2011.
* L’amore ? E una questione di soldi, interview with Gianni Rossi Barilli, Grazia (Italy), n° 10, 5 March 2012.
* Tout le monde est écrivain sauf moi (2003), in Philippe Sollers. Fugues, Gallimard, 2012.

### Television

* Bouillon de culture, hosted by Bernard Pivot, France 2, 15 October 1999
* Ce soir ou jamais, hosted by Frédéric Taddeï, France 3, 23 November 2006

## Distinctions

* Prix François Mauriac of the Académie française 2007 for Paris l'après-midi
* Prix Scrivere per amore 2012 in Italy for Pas son genre
* Prix Jean Freustié 2013 for La Femme infidèle
* Prix Méditerranée 2023 for ‘La Malédition de la Madone’

## Adaptations of his works
### Theatre

* La Dernière Année, adapted to theatre -Proscenium- by Jean-Paul Muel in 2002.

### Cinema

* Not My Type, based on his eponymous novel, French film directed by Lucas Belvaux, 2014.