J. M. G. Le Clézio was born in 1940 in Nice, France. He is a descendent of a Breton family that emigrated in the 18th century to Mauritius. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Institut d’Études Littéraires in Nice and is a Doctor of Philosophy.

Despite his extensive travels, since the age of seven or eight J. M. G. Le Clézio has never stopped writing: poems, sagas, tales, short stories, of which nothing was published until Le Procès-verbal (The Interrogation), his first novel, appeared in print in September 1963, for which he received Le Prix Renaudot. In 1980 he received Le Grand Prix Paul-Morand from the French Academy for his novel Désert.

In 2008 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/ Nobel Lectures/The Nobel Prizes. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate.