“A first novel is always the result of all the failed novels written in one’s youth,” jokes David Foenkinos. A true sense of derision, he says, is the ability to laugh at oneself. He also claims to be a victim of his own work. He lets his imagination take the lead and loves to be surprised by it. “My imagination writes the first draft for me,” he insists, “and then I take over to polish it up.”

David has instituted an almost tyrannical regime to force himself to write every day, since he claims he works better under pressure. Underlying his desire to make people laugh is a deep love of literature. He has a “very physical relationship with words.” Most often he draws inspiration from the books he reads and takes pleasure in referring to writers such as Albert Cohen, whose works arouse in David a blend of poetry and humor capable of prying open his imagination. He turned to writing after a disappointing experience in music. As a CIM Jazz School graduate, he attempted to set up his own group, but to no avail. With a degree in modern languages from the Sorbonne as well, he decided to seek refuge in his imagination.

He published his first novel, Inversion de l’Idiotie (Gallimard), in 2002. “My friends finally latched onto my intellectual prowess and ever since have referred to me as ‘Master’,” he jokingly makes us believe. For this book, the Académie Française awarded him the François Mauriac medal. The same year, his second novel, Entre les Oreilles (Gallimard), went on sale in bookshops. For this new project, David plans to keep the same surreal humor and energy of his first two novels but will strive for a new, deeper dimension. His main character will be subject, in a bizarre way, to the “tyranny of sensuality.”

Achievements since winning the grant
In 2004, he was awarded the Roger-Nimier Prize for Le Potentiel Érotique de ma Femme, first published by Gallimard and then by Folio in 2005; the novel has been translated in more than 10 countries. In 2005, he published En Cas de Bonheur (Flammarion) and released, in collaboration with his brother Stéphane, a short film, Une Histoire de Pieds, directed by Isabelle Madelaine, the Film Producer grant winner in 1991. In 2006 he published Les Cœurs Autonomes (Grasset) and collaborated with Jessica L Neslon, co-winner of the writer grant 2005, on the collective work, Plumes et Dentelles (Ramsay).

In 2004, he was awarded the Roger-Nimier Prize for , first published by Gallimard and then by Folio in 2005; the novel has been translated in more than 10 countries. In 2005, he published En Cas de Bonheur (Flammarion) and released, in collaboration with his brother Stéphane, a short film, , directed by Isabelle Madelaine, the Film Producer grant winner in 1991. In 2006 he published (Grasset) and collaborated with Jessica L Neslon, co-winner of the writer grant 2005, on the collective work, (Ramsay).

He is also one of the authors of Vivre le Sport, a beautiful book produced at the instigation of the Jean-Luc Lagardère Foundation and published jointly with Editions du Chêne in September 2006. For each book sold, two euros will be given to the non-profit organization Foot Citoyen for the promotion of citizenship values in football.

In 2007, he published Qui se souvient de David Foenkinos (Gallimard)