Maud Simonnot

Maud Simonnot is a French writer and editor.

She was born in 1979 in Semur-en-Auxois. After completing doctoral studies and earning a degree in modern literature, she worked as a literary attaché at the French Embassy in Oslo, Norway.

At present, in addition to her editorial work and writing, Simonnot is a member of the Reading Committee of the Gallimard publishing house. The committee—one of the most prestigious, influential, and exclusive institutions in the French literary world—has existed since 1925. Over the years, its members have included Camus, Le Clézio, Malraux, and others. It is its members who today play a key role in determining the literary repertoire of one of the most famous publishing houses in the world.

In 2017, Simonnot wrote a biographical essay on the American publisher and writer Robert McAlmon, who published, among other works, several novels by Gertrude Stein. For this work she received the Prix Valery-Larbaud and the Prix Tour Montparnasse, and was also a finalist for the Prix Médicis in the essay category. In 2020, her first work of fiction, Heavenly Child, was published. The novel was included on the shortlist for the Goncourt Prize, reached the final of the Goncourt des lycéens, and received the Prix Goncourt de l’Italie.