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Yann Martel

ヤン・マーテル

Yann Martel

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1963-06-25 （Salamanca, Spain）
Nationality
Canadian
Languages
French, English
Residence History
Salamanca, Spain → Coimbra, Portugal → Madrid, Spain → Fairbanks, Alaska, USA → Victoria, British Columbia, Canada → San José, Costa Rica → Paris, France → Ottawa, Ontario, Canada → Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Career

Occupations
novelist, short story writer, author
Active Years
1988-
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Influenced By
Dante Alighieri, Franz Kafka, Joseph Conrad, Nikolai Gogol, Sinclair Lewis, Moacyr Scliar, Thomas Hardy, Leo Tolstoy, Alphonse Daudet, J. M. Coetzee, Knut Hamsun

Education

Trinity College School
Country: Canada
Completed final two years of high school here
Trent University
Philosophy
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Country: Canada
Undergraduate degree in philosophy

Awards

Man Booker Prize
2002
Work: Life of Pi
Organization: Man Booker Prize
Result: Winner
Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction
2001
Work: Life of Pi
Organization: Quebec writing/awards bodies
Result: Winner
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
2002
Work: Life of Pi
Organization: Cooperative Children's Book Centre (APALA)
Result: Winner
Journey Prize
1991
Work: The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (short story)
Organization: The Journey Prize
Result: Winner
The Boeke Prize
2003
Work: Life of Pi
Organization: Exclusive Books
Result: Winner
Deutscher Bücherpreis
2004
Work: Life of Pi
Organization: German book prize bodies
Result: Winner
Companion of the Order of Canada (C.C.)
2021
Organization: Governor General of Canada
Result: Appointed (Invested 2022)

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Life of Pi

2001 Novel (allegorical fiction)

The story of an Indian boy who survives a shipwreck and drifts across the Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. An allegorical tale about faith, storytelling and the boundary between reality and imagination.

faithsurvivalstorytellingtruth and interpretation
Adaptations
  • [Film] Life of Pi (film) / Ang Lee (2012)
  • [Theatre (play)] Life of Pi (stage adaptation) / Max Webster (2019)
Translations
  • Histoire de Pi (French translation)

Beatrice and Virgil

2010 Novel (allegorical)

An allegorical novel approaching the Holocaust through imaginative synthesis, featuring a writer, a taxidermist and two stuffed animals.

memoryviolenceallegory

The High Mountains of Portugal

2016 Novel

Tells of three characters in Portugal in three different time periods who cope with love and loss in their own ways.

losslovetime

Self

1996 Novel

Early novel exploring self and identity.

selfidentity

The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

1993 Short story / Collection

Title story from a collection of short stories; one of his early notable works.

human relationshipslossallegory

Bibliography

  • Seven Stories (1993)
  • The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (collection, 1993)
  • Self (1996)
  • Life of Pi (2001)
  • We Ate the Children Last (short story, 2004)
  • Beatrice and Virgil (2010)
  • 101 Letters to a Prime Minister (2012)
  • The High Mountains of Portugal (2016)
  • Son of Nobody (2026) (future/announced)

Adaptations

  • Life of Pi → Film (Ang Lee, 2012)
  • Life of Pi → Stage adaptation (2019)
  • We Ate the Children Last → Film adaptation (Andrew Cividino)
  • Manners of Dying → Film adaptation (2004)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
allegoricalexperimentative narration (metafictional elements)clear, economical prose
Recurring Motifs
animalsfaith and religiosityjourney and exilestorytelling

Legacy

Achieved international success with Life of Pi and is known for allegorical and religious themes in contemporary literature. His work has been adapted to film and stage and has had impact on popular culture; he is one of Canada's internationally recognized literary figures.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature (Fellow)

Archives

  • Yann Martel fonds (Library and Archives Canada)

In Popular Culture

  • Life of Pi film (2012) became an international hit and won multiple awards

Quotes

  • If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.
    Source: Author's note, Life of Pi (2001)

Trivia

  • Born in Salamanca, Spain (1963) but holds Canadian nationality.
  • First language is French but writes in English.
  • Ran a book club sending books to the Prime Minister of Canada between 2007 and 2011; letters published as 101 Letters to a Prime Minister.
  • Has four children.
  • Life of Pi has been published in more than 50 territories and sold millions of copies.