Michelle Welbeck is a writer and poet, prose writer and essayist. Europe's best-selling author. In France, he is considered a cult writer, awarded the nickname "Karl Marx Sex". Books are translated into 26 languages of the world. Winner of the Goncourt Prize, awarded the Grand Prix in literature, as well as the Dublin Prize.
Writer Biography
Michelle Welbeck was born on February 26, 1958. Place of birth - an island in the Indian Ocean called Reunion. This overseas territory belongs to France. Michelle's real name is Tom. The writer claims that the mother, wanting to see him as a child prodigy, deliberately changed her date of birth to February 16, 1956.
After another child appeared in the family of Michel Welbeck, a girl, her parents actually stopped paying attention to him. The father, who worked as a mountain guide, and his mother, a medical worker, sent his son to be raised with relatives.
Literary nickname selection
First, Michelle was in the family of his mother’s parents in Algeria. Then, at the age of six, he moved to live in France with his grandmother, the mother of his father. Her name was Henrietta Welbeck, a passionate Communist Party activist. With her, the boy developed a close and trusting relationship,
It was she who had a great influence on the future writer. It was her surname that he took as his literary pseudonym - Michel Welbeck.
Getting an education, the beginning of writing
Having reached the age of sixteen, the young man begins to show interest in literature and the craft of writing. He is passionate about the works of science fiction writer Howard Lovecraft. He will not forget him - in twenty years he will write a book about his work.
To improve his knowledge, in order to enter the Paris-Grignon Institute (agronomic university), Michel Welbeck graduates from the Chaptal preparatory courses. They help in 1975 to enter the chosen educational institution.
The Institute begins the literary work of the subsequently well-known French writer Michel Welbeck. Within its walls, he created a literary magazine, which he called "Karamazov" and wrote poems for him. Made an attempt to make an amateur film.
Having received in 1978 a diploma of environmental specialist, Michelle continues to improve knowledge in the creative field, enrolling in the school. Louis Lumiere, at the cinematography department. Wellbeck graduated in 1981. Being already married in the same year he has a son Etienne.
However, Michel's marriage did not work out well. He finds himself in a difficult life situation associated with a lack of work and earning. This to a large extent contributed to the divorce of his wife and the immersion of Welbeck in deep depression.
These events led to the fact that since 1983, Michel Welbeck began to work in the field of computer services. For some time he worked as a system administrator in a well-known concern, then in the Ministry of Agriculture and finally, in the same capacity, in the French National Assembly.
Coming success
In 1991 - 1992, Welbeck published two collections of poems and a book dedicated to Lovecraft. However, the press and readers did not pay attention to these works.
In 1994, Michel Welbeck’s novel was published by Maurice Nadot, entitled “Expanding the Space of Struggle”. Unexpectedly for critics and reviewers, this work has become very popular and discussed among readers, especially among young people. Subsequently, people studying the work and biography of Michel Welbeck will come to the conclusion that with the publication of his first novel, he became the leader of a new generation of writers who are studying the lives of modern people and trying to understand the causes of their spiritual poverty.
This work was twice filmed in 1999 and 2002.
The writer continued to uncover the problems of Western civilizations in his next novel, Elementary Particles, which was released in 1998. In this work, Michelle Welbeck explores the path traveled by the West since the sexual revolution in the early 60s. The writer’s conclusion is that humanity is on the verge of collapse. The novel became very popular in the world and was awarded the prestigious “November” prize in the field of literature. However, the founder of this award, M. Donneri, was indignant at the choice of the nominee and resigned, and the November award was the last.
Welbeck's next novel was released in 2005 under the title Opportunity Island. In the same year, the work was awarded the Integer Prize. Michelle filmed it and showed it at the festival in Locarno (2008). However, the experience of filmmaking was unsuccessful. The film did not find support from the audience and was defeated by critics.
In 2010, Michel was accused of plagiarism. The French Internet publishing house Slate proved that Welbeck inserted unprocessed articles from the French version of Wikipedia in his next work, Map and Territory (awarded the Goncourt Prize).
The next novel was published in 2015 under the title "Submission." This anti-utopian work examines the situation when a Muslim became the next president of France, with the advent of which changes in society began.
Michel Welbeck's books are unpredictable. Each work will certainly become a bestseller.
Solitude, Relation to Religion
In the late 90's, at the peak of its popularity, Welbeck leaves France for Ireland. Settles in the sparsely populated area of County Cork. For myself, acquires the building of an abandoned post office on the ocean, which is attached to the house. He begins to hide from the press, practically does not give an interview.
Many associate the retreat of Michel Welbeck with litigation and threats against him from the Islamic communities.
The writer, in addition to his "revolutionary" works, is also known for his negative attitude towards Muslims. So, he belongs to the statement that Islam is a dangerous religion and stupid. He argues - the Koran is depressed, and Muslim men, who are restrained people in their homeland, coming to Europe, are extremely sexually liberated.
At the same time, Michelle claims that the Bible is a wonderful book, and the Jews are endowed with great literary talents.
Such statements gave rise to several Islamic organizations to prosecute Michel Welbeck, accusing him of inciting racial hatred and “Islamophobia”.
Family life
There is practically no data on Michel Welbeck's family. He currently lives alone. Periodically makes exhibitions of his work around the world. So, in 2016 in Tokyo, he organized a fairly popular exposition from his works entitled "Lost."
Until now, he said, falls in love with women and loves to photograph them.
However, for a person like Welbeck, whom society characterizes as a misanthrope and cynic who is constantly depressed, his dog Klemen was the only close creature. Until now, he mourned her loss, declaring to others that the best couple is an old man and a dog. According to Michel, Clement is a manifestation of absolute love.