Philippe Vilain

Born in 1969 in Évreux, Philippe Vilain is a novelist and essayist who teaches French literature at the University of Naples Federico II. His first novels, L’Étreinte (1997) and La Dernière Année (1999), were published by Gallimard, followed by Paris l’après-midi (Prix François-Mauriac 2007), Pas son genre (2011), adapted for the screen by Lucas Belvaux in 2014, and La Femme infidèle (Prix Jean-Freustié 2013) at Grasset, along with the essays Défense de Narcisse (2005) and La Littérature sans idéal (2016). Robert Laffont published La Malédiction de la Madone (2022), winner of the Prix Méditerranée, and Mauvais Élève (2025).