Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt has entered the comics scene thanks to his whimsical and philosophical “The Adventures of Chick the 1st” (Dupuis 2013, Europe Comics 2015). A delightful foray into the 9th Art by one of the most widely-read and most represented French authors in the world.
Born in 1960, a graduate of the Ecole Normale, both a philosophy specialist and a doctor, he first became known to the theater world with “Le Visiteur”, a hypothetical encounter between Freud and perhaps God, which became a classic of the international repertoire. Other successes soon followed: “Variations énigmatiques”, “Le Libertin”, “Hôtel des deux mondes”, “Petits crimes conjugaux”, “Mes Evangiles”, “La Tectonique des sentiments”, “Kiki Van Beethoven”, and “Le journal d’Anne Frank”, a world premiere with the exceptional authorization of the Anne Frank Foundation. Acclaimed by both the public and critics alike, his plays have been rewarded with many Molière awards and the Académie Française grand theatre award. His books are translated into 43 languages, and his plays are staged regularly in over 50 countries.
He wrote the ‘Cycle de l’invisible’, six stories about childhood and spirituality, which found great success both on stage and in bookstores: “Milarepa”, “Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran”, “Oscar et la dame rose”, “L’Enfant de Noé”, “Le sumo qui ne pouvait pas grossir” et “Les dix enfants que madame Ming n’a jamais eus”. With a career as a novelist, initiated by “La Secte des Egoistes”, he gets a large part of his energy from “The Gospel According to Pilate”, an enlightening book where “La Part de l’autre” aims to be the dark side. Since then, we can be grateful to him for: “Lorsque j’étais une oeuvre de l’art”, a whimsical and contemporary variation on the Faust myth and autofiction, and “Ma Vie est Mozart,” an intimate and original correspondence with the composer of “Vienne”. This book was followed by “Quand je pense que Beethoven est mort alors que tant de crétins vivent”, thus constituting the second volume of the cycle “Le Bruit qui pense”. From there followed two collections of short stories: “Odette Toulemonde” and other stories, eight destinies of women in search of happiness, inspired by his first film, and “La rêveuse d’Ostende”, a beautiful tribute to the power of imagination. In “Ulysse from Baghdad,” he delivers a picaresque epic of our time and questions the human condition. His third collection of short stories “Concerto à la mémoire d’un ange”, presents us with heroes who are one day offered redemption. In 2010 the novel was awarded the prestigious Goncourt short story prize. In his latest novel, “La Femme au Miroir”, published in the 2011 literary season, he presents three fates, three unique adventures, three women as infinitely close as they are similar in their feeling of being different and their desire to escape the image of themselves that the mirror of their era reflects. Everything distances them from what society, people around them and men have decided for them. His fourth collection of short stories, “Les deux messieurs de Bruxelles”, delicately reveals the secrets of many souls.
Encouraged by the international success of his first film “Odette Toulemonde”, he adapted and directed “Oscar et la dame rose” (2009).
As a music lover, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt has also created a French translation of “Noces de Figaro” and “Don Giovanni”. Always curious, he continuously opens new doors and holds up new mirrors, to our great delight. He made his debut at the National Paris Opera with “Le Mystère Bizet” in October 2012.
He lives in Brussels and all his works in French are published by Albin Michel.