The Modern Novel

Biography

Amélie Nothomb was born Fabienne-Claire Nothomb in Belgium in 1966, the daughter of a Belgian diplomat. She has consistently claimed metaphorically to have been born in Kobe, Japan in 1967 though this is not accurate. She spent the first five years of her life in Japan and learned Japanese. Subsequently, she lived in China, New York, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Laos, before returning to Belgium at the age of seventeen to study at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. It was at this time that she started writing. She has been very prolific though she has declined to publish most of the novels she has written. She published her first novel at the age of twenty-five and has since published almost a novel a year. She lived in Brussels with her sister but now lives in Paris on her own. The two sisters, however, remain very close.

Other Links

Amélie Nothomb
Amélie Nothomb
A Week in Culture: Amélie Nothomb, Writer
Interview
Interview
Interview
The Uncanny & Interesting Films of Belgian writer, Amélie Nothomb
Her website (in French)
Amélie Nothomb (in French)
Amélie Nothomb (in French)
Amélie Nothomb (in French)
Amélie Nothomb, contes et légendes (in French)
Qui est Amélie Nothomb? (in French)
Comment je suis devenue Amélie Nothomb (in French)
10 choses que vous ne savez pas forcément sur Amélie Nothomb (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)
Interview (in French)