About Yannick Haenel
Born 1967. Yannick Haenel is a French writer, literary scholar and publisher.
Yannick Haenel (born 1967, Rennes) is a French writer, cofounder of the literary magazine .
Biography The son of a soldier, Yannick Haenel studied at the Prytanée National Militaire at La Flèche.
From 1997, he codirected the magazine Ligne de risque with François Meyronnis. Until 2005 he was a teacher of French at lycée La Bruyère in Versailles.
He published several novels, including Introduction à la mort française and Évoluer parmi les avalanches, as well as an essay about the tapestries of The Lady and the Unicorn: À mon seul désir.
He also directed two volumes of interviews with Philippe Sollers: Ligne de risque and Poker.
In 2007, he published Cercle (Éditions Gallimard), a novel which earned him the prix Décembre and the prix Roger Nimier.
In 2007, a controversy arose with Alina Reyes who accused him of plagiarism.
In 2008-2009, Haenel was a resident at the French Academy in Rome, the Villa Médicis.
In 2009, he was awarded the Prix Interallié and the Prix du roman Fnac for .This book has three parts: The first part is directly inspired by the film Shoah by Claude Lanzmann, where the Polish resistant Karski is interviewed. The second part summarizes in approximately 80 pages the testimony of Karski published in English in 1944 under the title Story of a secret state. The third part depicts Karski's feelings and relates dialogues that are presented by the author as a fiction.
Claude Lanzmann published a vigorous criticism of the novel of which he described the third part as a "falsification of history". He reproached Haenel for having plagiarized the dialogues of his film without having asked for authorization. Philippe Sollers, the director of Gallimard's collection L'Infini, said that he submitted Lanzmann the prints of the novel before publication which Lanzmann has always denied. Haenel responded by claiming the freedom of the novelist
Yannick Haenel is a columnist for the literary and film magazine since 2010 and Charlie Hebdo since the resumption of publication after the January 2015 attacks.
Work Novels 1996: Les Petits Soldats, La Table ronde 2001: Introduction à la mort française, Gallimard, series "L'Infini" 2003: Évoluer parmi les avalanches, Gallimard, series "L'Infini" 2007: Cercle, Gallimard, series "L'Infini", , Prix Décembre 2007, prix Roger Nimier 2008. 2009: Jan Karski, Gallimard, series "L'Infini", 2009 , Prix du roman Fnac and Prix Interallié. 2013: Les Renards pâles, Gallimard, series "L'Infini" 2017 Tiens ferme ta couronne, Gallimard, series "L'Infini" - Prix Médicis of 2017
Fictions 2005: À mon seul désir, 2011: Le Sens du calme, Mercure de France, series "Traits et portraits" 2015: Je cherche l'Italie, Gallimard, series "L'Infini"
Essay 2009: Prélude à la délivrance, with François Meyronnis, Gallimard, series "L'Infini"
Interviews 2005: Ligne de risque, under the direction of Yannick Haenel and François Meyronnis, Gallimard, series "L'Infini" 2005: Poker, entretiens de la revue Ligne de risque with Philippe Sollers, Gallimard, series "L'Infini"
Honours 2010 Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 2012 Chevalier of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland 2017 Prix Médicis for Tiens ferme ta couronne
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Important facts
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Yannick Haenel?
French writer
When was Yannick Haenel born?
Yannick Haenel was born in 1967 in Rennes.
What is Yannick Haenel's occupation?
Yannick Haenel is a writer, literary scholar and publisher.
What nationality is Yannick Haenel?
Yannick Haenel is French.
Sources & further reading
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APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Yannick Haenel. https://biography.guide/yannick-haenel/
MLA: "Yannick Haenel." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/yannick-haenel/.
Chicago: "Yannick Haenel." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/yannick-haenel/.
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