"Matignon la nuit" - Lecture by Dr. Nicolas Idier
Dr. Nicolas Idier, a prominent French novelist, sinologist, French diplomat, and Inspector-General of Chinese Language Education in France, is our guest of honor.
After completing his PhD on “Simon Leys and Chinese Art History” and teaching Chinese Art History at Sorbonne-University, Nicolas Idier worked as Cultural Attaché in Beijing, China and later, in New Delhi, India.
After eight-years as diplomat (2010-2018), Idier was deputy director of “Cité internationale de la Bande dessinée et de l'image” in Angouleme, working to promote Graphic novels and Comics (2018-2020).
From 2020 to 2022, he joined the Prime Minister Jean Casteix as Counselor for speech writing and prospection, bringing to the team his expertise in writing and soft diplomacy. He has recently published a fictionalized memoir of these two years entitled Matignon la Nuit (“Matignon by Night”, 2024). In the aftermath, he has joined the Ministère de l’Education, in charge of Chinese studies in the French Education system.
As a writer, Nicolas Idier is the author of 6 novels and 1 essay about Shanghai, published by the most notorious French publishing houses (Gallimard, Robert Laffont, Stock, Plon) and short-listed by Prix Médicis, Prix Jean Freustié de l'Académie française, Prix Décembre and most recently Prix Castel. "Nouvelle jeunesse" was awarded by Prix Printemps du Roman and translated into English as Electric nights in Beijing (Yatra Books).
