French novelist JMG Le Clézio has been awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature.
The Swedish Academy described him as an 'author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation.'
It is the first time since 1985 that a French writer has won the Nobel literature prize.
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, who is 68, was born in Nice to a mother of Breton origin and a father who was at least nominally British.
He grew up bilingual, and initially considered starting his writing career in English.
His first novel, Le Procès-Verbal (published in English as 'The Interrogation'), was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1963.
In his early career, he explored themes like insanity, language and writing, devoting himself to formal experimentation. His public image was that of an innovator and a rebel.
In the late 1970s, he abandoned experimentation and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he broached themes like childhood, adolescence or travelling, attracting a broader, more popular audience.
