The Nobel Prizes were awarded this week, and French author Annie Ernaux was honored in the field of literature “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory.”

The Nobel Committee's biobibliography of Ernaux notes: "A masterpiece from her production is the clinically restrained narrative about a 23-year-old narrator’s illegal abortion, L’événement (2000; Happening, 2001). It is a first-person narrative, and the distance to the historical self is not stressed as in many other works. The I is made an object anyway through the moral restrictions of a repressive society and the patronising attitude of people she is confronted with. It is a ruthlessly honest text, where in parentheses she adds reflexions in a vitally lucid voice, addressing herself and the reader in one and the same flow. In the spaces in between, we are in the time of writing, 25 years after the 'event' took place, making even the reader intensely part of what once happened."

The New York Times writes, "Scholars, critics and fellow authors have praised her work for the way she connects individual memory to collective experience, particularly for women and for members of the working class. Ernaux also upended assumptions about what literature could be." Learn more about Annie Ernaux's personal history and bibliography here on nobelprize.org.

Order books by this year's Nobel winners here on harvard.com. (Many titles are out of stock at the moment due to this week's announcement; most titles will be back on our shelves next week! This collection also includes Neanderthal Man by Svante Pääbo, the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine). 

Our annual sale for holders of our (free) Frequent Buyer card is TWO WEEKS away. Shop in-store or online for 20% off on Saturday and Sunday, October 22–23. Sign up for a Frequent Buyer card here, and mark your calendars for the annual sale. Learn more about all the things included in the sale, and a few exclusions, here.

Tuesday, October 11, 7PM

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky discusses his latest book, Jersey Breaks: Becoming an American Poet. Joining in conversation is Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. Masks required. Join us.

Wednesday, October 12, 7PM

New York Times bestselling author and professor of animal science Temple Grandin , author of the national bestsellers Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation—discusses Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions. Masks encouraged. Learn more.

Thursday, October 13, 7PM

Baker and food consultant Laurel Kratochvila discusses New European Baking: 99 Recipes for Breads, Brioches and Pastries. Joining in conversation is Rachel Sundet—local award winning baker and owner of Mamaleh’s Delicatessen. Masks required. Join us.

Friday, October 14, 12PM ET

Jamie Martin, Assistant Professor in the Department of History and Social Studies at Harvard University, discusses The Meddlers: Sovereignty, Empire, and the Birth of Global Economic Governance. Joining in conversation is Quinn Slobodian, Associate Professor of History at Wellesley College. Online via Zoom. Learn more.

Friday, October 14, 7PM

Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe, investigative reporters for the New York Times, discuss When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm. Masks required. Join us.

In case you missed it, check out our latest "New This Week" newsletter, and come browse our virtual New Arrivals shelves for all the very latest new books, updated every Tuesday. Our weekly store best sellers are updated on Mondays (and they are 20% off for Frequent Buyer Card members!). And on a monthly basis, we recommend dozens of recently published featured titles, plus members of our Signed First Edition Club receive a new book of great literary merit, selected by our staff.