Life is everywhere

In La mer à l’envers, the latest novel by France’s Marie Darrieussecq, the female protagonist – a psychologist in her 40s – takes a Mediterranean cruise. The ship picks up a boatful of migrants one night, and she gets to know the young Nigerian Younes. How can you know that you’re doing the right thing for yourself and others?

Darrieussecq’s books are among the most read in her generation. Since her literary debut in 1996, she has written a number of works in various genres, from the linguistically experimental, via art novels and books on cloning, to essays on motherhood. She meets critic and translator Margunn Vikingstad for a conversation on her writing.

In English

With support from Institut francais de Norvège