In her latest novel, Toutes les vies de Théo (The Many Lives of Theo), Azoulai explores Jewishness directly in the aftermath of October 7, a departure from the subtle "concealment" characterizing her earlier works. Avatars, masks, shifts, transpositions, and analogies have long fueled her narratives, a literary encryption reminiscent of European Jewish literary identity. From Marcel Proust and Georges Perec to Franz Kafka, Felix Salten, Joseph Roth, and Romain Gary, European Jewish novelists have often disguised their Jewishness—whether to protect themselves, aspire to universality, appeal to a broader audience, or simply as a literary game of withholding and revelation.

Speaker

Nathalie Azoulai is a French novelist based in Paris. She is known for exploring themes of love, friendship, identity, and the complexities of human relationships. Her novel Titus n’aimait pas Bérénice won the prestigious Prix Médicis in 2015 and was translated into many languages. Azoulai studied literature at the École Normale Supérieure and has a deep connection to classical and French literary traditions. Her style is often described as sophisticated, blending erudition with storytelling and humor.