Fitzcarraldo and Seven Stories land first English translation of Ernaux's diary

Fitzcarraldo Editions and Seven Stories Press will jointly publish the first English translation of Annie Ernaux’s "visceral and wrenching" diary Getting Lost, translated by Alison L Strayer.

Jacques Testard and Dan Simon, publishers at Fitzcarraldo Editions and Seven Stories, acquired EU & UK rights and North American rights respectively from Anne-Solange Noble at Gallimard. The book will be published in September 2022. 

Originally released by Gallimard in 2002, Getting Lost is the diary kept by Ernaux during the year and a half she had an affair with a younger, married man, an attaché to the Soviet embassy in Paris. In these diaries it is 1989 and Ernaux is divorced with two grown sons, living in the suburbs of Paris and nearing 50. Her lover escapes the city to see her there and Ernaux seems to survive only in expectation of these encounters. 

Ernaux won the Prix Renaudot for A Man’s Place (Fitzcarraldo) and the Marguerite Yourcenar Prize for her body of work. More recently she received the International Strega Prize and the Premio Formentor. Strayer’s translation of The Years (Fitzcarraldo) won the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation, the French-American Prize and was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize. Getting Lost is the 12th book by Ernaux to be published by Seven Stories Press, and the eighth by Fitzcarraldo Editions. 

"It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to publish Annie Ernaux, an extraordinary writer," Testard said. "Getting Lost is a major book and everyone at Fitzcarraldo Editions is excited for Alison L Strayer’s excellent translation to go out into the world in September."

Simon added: "Getting Lost is among Annie Ernaux’s most wrenching and visceral books, rendered here in English beautifully by Alison L Strayer. It is wonderful to see new readers discovering Ernaux every day and finding in her words the breath of life that pulses in them."