Vincent Engel
Born20th September 1963
Uccle
NationalityBelgian
EducationUniversité Catholique de Louvain
Known forWriter, literary critique
Websitehttps://www.vincent-engel.com/

Vincent Engel, born in Uccle the 20th September 1963, is a Belgian francophone writer and playwright.

Carrier

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Literary carrier

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Vincent Engel starts his carrier in 1993 with the publication of short stories collections in Québec at the publisher L'instant même, then with the publication of a first novel, Un jour, ce sera l’aube (1995).

He publishes at the same publisher several novels under the pseudonym Baptiste Morgan (which is also one of his novel characters, which appears in Les absentes): La vie oubliée (1998) , Mon voisin, c’est quelqu’un (2002) et L’art de la fuite (2005).

His novel Retour à Montechiarro (2001) meets a real success with the public and receives several awards, including the Prix des libraires de Livre de Poche[1] and the Prix Rossel des jeunes[2]. The historical aspect is inextricqbly linked to his literary and critique bibliography, as it is shown in Oubliez Adam Weinberger (2000), novel that accounts for the difficulty to tell the Shoah, " an over there about which we do not talk[3]", wrote the writer.

In 2015, he engages in the youth literature with Et dans la forêt, j’ai vu, novel published at the publisher Ker, along with a comics adaptation by Benjamin Cuvelier (planned publication in 2023).

Vincent Engel is particularly interested in the short story genre. In 1993-1994, L’Année Nouvelle à Louvain-la-Neuve, a year filled with activity about the francophone short story, starts with the publication of a collection of 71 short stories, goes on with several activities and meetings, and ends in 1994 with colloqium-festival.

Several short stories of Vincent Engel were broadcasted on RTBF and RFI.

Some of his novels and collection of short stories have been translated in German (Oubliez Adam Weinberger), in Russian (Oubliez Adam Weinberger, La guerre est quotidienne and Mon voisin, c’est quelqu’un), and in English (La peur du paradis).

Dramaturgic carrier

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A a playwright, he writes several theater plays, such as the musical Viva! (2017), directed by Gabriel Alloing and interpreted by Pietro Pizzuti. In 2019, he adapts Albert Camus' novel, The Fall. He collaborates also with Franco Dragone for the creation of two shows: The House of Dancing Water in Macao et The Han Show in Wuhan.

Five novels of his were adapted at the theater by Michel Poncelet and Bernard Lefrancq, in a show called “Nous sommes tous des faits divers”.

Academic carrier

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Vincent Engel is a doctor in roman philology, professor of contemporary literature at the Université Catholique de Louvain, and of contemporary history in IHECS. His scientific research is particularly focused on the Shoah, the memory and the transmission. His recent novel Le désir de mémoire : contre l’instrumentalisation de la mémoire de la Shoah, published in 2020 at the publisher Karthala, talks about the current memorial issue of the extermination camps. More globally, his general thought focuses on the French literature from the 20th century and the relations between ideology and literature.

Other occupations

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As a political columnist and literary critic, Vincent Engel collaborated with Le Soir, Victoire (weekly supplement of Le Soir) and Radio Mint. In 2019, he gets elected as vice-president of the RTBF board, under the PTB (Parti du Travail de Belgique) quota[4].

He finds a new passion for music (constant presence of it in his novels) and writes libretto of an oratorio, Shema Adonai, which music is composed by Gaston Compère.

Vincent Engel is also one of the founding members of the SGdL cfb (Société des gens de lettres de la communauté française de Belgique, which became AGdL in 1999). In 2008, he heads the collection Espace Nord at the publisher Labor, and then, in 2012, he manages the collection Le Grand Miroir[5] at the publisher Decitre.

He is also one of the founding members of the Carta Academica, of group of Belgian academic peers, francophone or dutch-speaking, who decided to intervene in the public debate[6].

Works

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Essays, publications

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  • Le Serment de Kolvillàg d'Elie Wiesel : une écriture entre le silence et la parole, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1986.
  • Fou de Dieu ou Dieu des fous : l’œuvre tragique d’Elie Wiesel, essay, De Boeck, Bruxelles, 1989.
  • Pourquoi parler d'Auschwitz ?, essay, Les Éperonniers, Bruxelles, 1992.
  • L'Année nouvelle à Louvain-la-Neuve : le Colloque-Festival, L'Année nouvelle, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1994.
  • La vie malgré tout : confessions nouvelles, essay, L’instant même, Québec, 1994 (Prix Renaissance de la nouvelle).
  • Le genre de la nouvelle dans le monde francophone au tournant du XXIe siècle, essay, proceedings of the conference of l’Année nouvelle, from 26th to 28th April 1994, Canevas, L’instant même, Phi, 1995.
  • Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois, essay, impressions d’écrivains sur la francophonie, Quorum, Ottignies, 1996 (dir.).
  • Au nom du père, de Dieu et d’Auschwitz ; regards littéraires sur des questions contemporaines au travers de l'œuvre d'Elie Wiesel, essay, Peter Lang, Bruxelles, 1997.
  • Histoire de la critique littéraire des XIXe et XXe siècles, essay, Academia-Bruylant, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1998 (dir.).
  • Frédérick Tristan, essay, Le Rocher, Paris, 2000.
  • Fiction : l'impossible nécessité. Sur les récifs des sirènes naissent les récits des silènes, essay, Ker Éditions, Hévillers, 2013.
  • Le désir de mémoire : contre l'instrumentalisation de la mémoire de la Shoah, essay, Karthala, Paris, 2020.

Short Stories, Novels, Theater Plays, Other

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  • Légendes en attente, nouvelles, L’instant même, Québec, 1993 (Prix Franz de Wever).
  • Un jour, ce sera l’aube, roman, Labor, Bruxelles, 1995.
  • Raphael et Laetitia : romansonge, Alfil, Neuvy-le-Roy, France, 1996, published again by Ker éditions in 2011.
  • La vie oubliée. Nature morte IV, under the pseudonym of Baptiste Morgan, novel, éditions Quorum, Gerpinnes, Belgique, 1998.
  • La guerre est quotidienne, short story, éditions Quorum, Gerpinnes, Belgique, 1999.
  • Oubliez Adam Weinberger, novel, éditions Fayard, 2000 (published again by Mijade 2020).
  • Retour à Montechiarro, novel, éditions Fayard, 2001 (prix Victor-Rossel des jeunes 2001).
  • Vae victis, novel, éditions Luc Pire, Le grand Miroir, Bruxelles, 2006.
  • Mon voisin, c'est quelqu'un, under the pseudonym of Baptiste Morgan, novel, éditions Fayard, 2002.
  • Requiem vénitien, novel, éditions Fayard, 2003.
  • Les Angéliques, novel, éditions Fayard, 2004.
  • Amour, j'écris ton nom, 23 auteurs belges colorient leur plume, collective, Éditions Couleur livres, Charleroi, 2006.
  • Alessandro, théâtre, theater play in 4 acts, Éd. Asmodée Edern, Ohain, 2006.
  • Les Absentes, novel, éditions Lattès, 2006.
  • Le don de Mala-Léa : David Susskind : l'itinéraire d'un Mensch, biographie romancée, éditions Luc Pire, Le grand Miroir, Bruxelles, 2006.
  • Othello, passeur, with Yves Vasseur, Les impressions nouvelles, Bruxelles, 2008.
  • La peur du paradis, novel, éditions JC Lattès, 2009.
  • Opera Mundi, with pictures of Emmanuel Crooy, éditions Luc Pire, Le grand Miroir, Bruxelles, 2009.
  • Le mariage de Dominique Hardenne, novel, éditions JC Lattès, 2010 (Prix Berheim du roman 2012[7])
  • Nous sommes tous des faits divers, collection, Ker éditions, Hévillers, 2013.
  • Les Diaboliques, novel , Ker éditions, Hévillers, 2014.
  • Le Miroir des illusions, Les Escales, Paris, 2016.
  • Alma Viva, Ker éditions, Hévillers, 2017.
  • Maramisa, Les Escales, Paris, 2018.
  • Les vieux ne parlent plus, Ker éditions, Hévillers, 2020

Notes

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  1. ^ "Retour à Montechiarro".
  2. ^ "Prix Rossel Thomas Gunzig et Vincent Engel, lauréats de l'édition 2001 Une oeuvre ouverte sur le monde «Ce qui m'intéresse, c'est comment on devient un monstre... humain» Thomas Gunzig et l'ironie Douze jeunes jurés en flagrant délit d'efficacité Engel: «Je crée mes vies sur mesure» Vincent Engel et l'histoire PALMARES". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  3. ^ "Oubliez Adam Weinberger | Vincent Engel". vincent-engel (in French). Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  4. ^ décembre 2019, Rédaction en ligne-7. "Vincent Engel devient vice-président de la RTBF". PTB (in French). Retrieved 2022-02-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Dossier littérature encadré : Vincent Engel au Grand Miroir". Le Soir (in French). Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  6. ^ "Charte". cartaacademica. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  7. ^ "Bergen et Engel, lauréats du Bernheim". Retrieved 9/04/2011.. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)


See also

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Bibliography

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