Camille Bordas

Camille Bordas
In a 2025 video
Born1987 (age 38–39)[1]
Lyon, France[1]
CitizenshipFrench[2], American[3]
OccupationsWriter, assistant professor
SpouseAdam Levin
Writing career
LanguageFrench, English
Notable awardsPrix du deuxième roman, Guggenheim Fellowship

Camille Bordas (born 1987) is a French and American writer and academic. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker,[4] The Paris Review, Tin House, Chicago Magazine, and LitHub.[5]

Early life

Bordas was born in Lyon[6] and grew up in Mexico City. Her father was an engineer who moved frequently for work, bringing the family with him. She also lived for a time in Paris and near the French Alps .[7][8][9] She is the youngest of four children.[10] She studied anthropology, photography, and art history.[11][12]

Career

Bordas published her first novel, Les treize desserts, in 2009, at the age of 22. It is a coming-of-age story about a young orphan who sets out on a journey in search of her own identity.[12][13] It won the Prix Jean-Claude-Izzo[14] and the Bourse Thyde-Monnier from the Société des gens de lettres.[15]

Her second novel, Partie commune, was published in 2011, and tells the story of a theater director and his troupe who purchase a home with the hopes of turning it into a theater. It won the Prix du deuxième roman in 2012[11], and was nominated for the Prix du roman Fnac.

She began writing in English at the suggestion of her husband, Adam Levin, and found that it enabled her to distance herself from the characters.[8] Her first novel in English, How to Behave in a Crowd, was published in 2017. It tells the story an eleven-year-old boy in a family of gifted individuals, who notices things his other family members do not.[16] She translated the novel into French herself. It was released in France in 2019 under the title Isidore et les autres.[17]

Her second novel in English, The Material, was released in 2024. It tells the story of one day in the life of students and faculty members in a fictional MFA program for stand-up comedy at a Chicago university.[18] Bordas translated the novel into French herself, and it was published in France in 2025 under the title Des inconnus à qui parler.[19]

Bordas was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2024.[20]

In 2026, a collection of her short fiction, One Sun Only, was released.

For several years, she was an assistant professor at the University of Florida.[5][21] She was the Visiting Blackburn Artist-in-Residence at Duke University for the 2025–26 academic year.[22]

Personal life

Bordas is married to writer Adam Levin, who she met at a reception for the Prix du roman Fnac.[23] She moved to the United States in 2012.[24] She is a fan of the football team Olympique de Marseille and the TV show The Sopranos.[8] She lives in Chicago,[25] and is a naturalized United States citizen.[3]

Bibliography

Novels

  • —— (2009). Les treize desserts (in French). Paris: Joëlle Losfeld. ISBN 9782070787746.[26]
  • —— (2011). Partie commune (in French). Paris: Joëlle Losfeld. ISBN 9782072449307.[27]
  • —— (2017). How to Behave in a Crowd. New York: Tim Duggan Books. ISBN 9780451497543.[28]
  • —— (2024). The Material. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780593729847.[29]

Short fiction

Collection

  • —— (2026). One Sun Only. New York: Random House. ISBN 9780593729885.[30]
Stories[31]
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected Notes
Most Die Young 2017 "Most Die Young". The New Yorker. 2 January 2017. One Sun Only, 2026
The Presentation on Egypt 2019 "The presentation on Egypt". The New Yorker. Vol. 95, no. 13. 20 May 2019. pp. 68–75. One Sun Only, 2026
Only Orange 2019 "Only Orange". The New Yorker. 95 (41): 76–83. 23 December 2019. One Sun Only, 2026
The Lottery in Almería 2021 "The Lottery in Almería," The Paris Review No. 237, Summer 2021. One Sun Only, 2026
Offside Constantly 2021 "Offside Constantly". The New Yorker. 28 June 2021. One Sun Only, 2026
One Sun Only 2022 "One Sun Only". The New Yorker. 7 March 2022. One Sun Only, 2026
Colorín Colorado 2023 "Colorín Colorado." The New Yorker, 3 July 2023. One Sun Only, 2026
Understanding the Science 2025 "Understanding the Science." The New Yorker, 15 December 2025. One Sun Only, 2026

References

  1. 1 2 "Camille Bordas". www.goodreads.com.
  2. ↑ Davidson, Willing (2 April 2018). "Camille Bordas on Burglaries, Loneliness, and Spelling Problems". The New Yorker – via www.newyorker.com.
  3. 1 2 Bordas, Camille (10 September 2024). "When the Democrats Came to Chicago". Chicago. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  4. ↑ Bordas, Camille (26 December 2016). ""Most Die Young"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Camille Bordas – Department of English". english.ufl.edu. 18 October 2017.
  6. ↑ Bordas, Camille; Cordingley, Anthony (17 April 2023). "Entretien avec Camille Bordas, autrice de How to Behave in a Crowd / Isidore et les autres". Nouveaux cahiers de Marge (in French) (6). doi:10.35562/marge.650. ISSN 2607-4427.
  7. ↑ Guadagnino, Kate (16 August 2017). "The Rooms Where Writers Work". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Rooney, Kathleen (13 September 2017), "'How to Behave,' according to Camille Bordas", Chicago Tribune
  9. ↑ Bordas, Camille (11 August 2017). "On Living, and Thinking, in Two Languages at Once". LitHub. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  10. ↑ Cutaia, Sara (12 June 2024). ""A Mix of Both": An Interview with Camille Bordas on "The Material"". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  11. 1 2 "Le prix du deuxième roman revient à Camille Bordas". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  12. 1 2 "«Les Treize Desserts» de Camille Bordas". Nouvel Obs (in French). 8 October 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2026.
  13. ↑ de Chabalier, Blaise (3 September 2009). "Adieu jeunesse". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Prix Jean-Claude Izzo". www.livreshebdo.fr (in French). Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  15. ↑ "Prix Thyde Monnier". www.sgdl.org (in French). Archived from the original on 13 December 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  16. ↑ McAlpin, Heller. "An Oddball Family That Can't Connect In 'How To Behave In A Crowd'". NPR. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Bouchy, Florence (13 October 2018). "« Isidore et les autres » : Camille Bordas fait son jeune homme". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "Can a Künstlerroman also be a gas? Yes!". Kirkus. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  19. ↑ Leyris, Raphaëlle (31 August 2025). "« Des inconnus à qui parler » : Camille Bordas a fait l'université du rire". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  20. ↑ "Meet our Fellows". Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  21. ↑ Sachs, Adam Ehrlich (13 June 2024). "Camille Bordas on What Stand-Up Comedy Can Teach Writing Workshops About Growing Thicker Skin". Literary Hub. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "'25-26 Visiting Blackburn Artist-in-Residence, Camille Bordas". Duke Department of English. 18 August 2025. Retrieved 14 April 2026.
  23. ↑ Tarun, Parker (2020). "Interview with Camille Bordas". Washington Square Review. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  24. ↑ Davidson, Willing (26 December 2016). "Camille Bordas on What Things Are Worth Worrying About". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  25. ↑ Rosenthal, Ruby (23 February 2026). "Interview: Camille Bordas on "One Sun Only"". New City Lit. Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  26. ↑ Leclercq, Pierre-Robert (27 August 2009), "Review of Les treize desserts", Le Monde
  27. ↑ De Chabalier, Blaise (17 November 2011), "Une maison très joueuse", Le Figaro
  28. ↑ Reviews of How to Behave in a Crowd:
  29. ↑ Jacobs, Alexandra (23 June 2024). "Have You Heard the One About the School for Stand-Up Comedy?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  30. ↑ "One Sun Only by Camille Bordas: 9780593729878 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  31. ↑ Short stories unless otherwise noted.
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