Nobel literature prize fell into my life ‘like a bomb’, says Annie Ernaux

In conversation with Sally Rooney at Charleston festival author says award has hindered her ability to focus on writing

Annie Ernaux, the French winner of the 2022 Nobel prize in literature, has said she never wanted the award and that it fell into her life like a bomb", hindering her ability to focus on writing.

In conversation with the novelist Sally Rooney on the final day of Charleston festival, Ernaux was talking via an interpreter as she explained her tricky relationship with the prize.