Acclaimed author Christine Angot speaks as part of the series “Versions of Reality: Four Talks by Acclaimed French Writers” presented by the Yale University Department of French. Angot is one of the most controversial authors writing today in France. Born in 1958 in Châteauroux, Angot studied law at the University of Reims and began writing at the age of 25. After six years of rejections, Angot published her first novel, Vu du ciel, the story of woman named Christine told from the perspective of an angel who died after being raped as a little girl. Her subsequent novels have dealt with incest, sexual violence, and the figure of the author, and have continually blurred the line between autobiography and fiction. Ever since gaining widespread notoriety with the 1999 publication of Incest (recently translated by Tess Lewis), Angot has remained at the center of public debate and has continued to push the boundaries of what society allows an author to express.