Born in 1940, ANNIE ERNAUX grew up in Normandy, studied at Rouen University, and began teaching high school. From 1977 to 2000, she was a professor at the Centre National dEnseignement par Correspondance. Her books, in particular A Mans Place and A Womans Story, have become contemporary classics in France. She won the prestigious Prix Renaudot for A Mans Place when it was first published in French in 1984. The English edition was a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The English edition of A Womans Story was a New York Times Notable Book.