1910- French writer, born Louis Poirier. He wrote novels, critiques, a play and some poetry. His work, influenced by Surrealism and German Romanticism, but profoundly original, is hard to classify. Gracq entered the Ecole normale superieure in 1930, and Sciences-poliiques later. During World War II he was a prisoner of war with other officers of the French Army. He won the Prix Goncourt for The Opposite Shore (Le Rivage des Syrtes) in 1951, but he refused the prize. He taught history and geography in lycees until he retired in 1970.