My Prizes

On the pretext of talking about all the literary awards he won, Thomas Bernhard does what he does best in these newly-translated texts: expressing his loathing. Juries, organisers, German or Austrian public figures, no one is safe from the avenging humour of an author who couldn't stand mediocrity. Irresistibly mean and hilarious, he also excelled in the art of miniature. Every story is a gem, and reads like hyper-short fiction. Behind his misleadingly casual tone, Bernhard questions the nature of the literary industry and the vanity of honorary distinctions. All in his biting and ironic style—beautiful! Completed in 1980, this slim volume, which remained for obscure reasons unpublished until after Bernhard's death, brings together nine stories about award ceremonies and the corresponding speeches, at once poetic and violent. One could almost understand why one Austrian minister, upon hearing one of those scathing speeches, could only just refrain from hitting Bernhard...

Born on 10 February 1931 in Herleen in the Netherlands, Thomas Bernhard was the son of an Austrian farmer. He studied the violin and singing, then musicology, in Salzburg. His first poetry collection was published in 1957, followed two years later by a ballet libretto. His plays have been performed in many countries, including in France starting in 1960. In 1970, Thomas Bernhard won the Georg Büchner Prize, the most important literary prize in West Germany. He died on 12 February 1989 in Gmunden (Austria).

With Laurent Poitrenaux
And at the musical saw Thibaut Kuttler (élève comédien de l'ensemble 26 de l'ERACM)

Extracts chosen by Jean-Luc Vincent
Direction Sophie-Aude Picon