or Julien Green
born Sept. 6, 1900, Paris, France
died Aug. 13, 1998, Paris
French-born American writer.
Born in France of American parents, Green lived mostly in France, though he taught for a few years in the U.S. Green's novels are written in French and are usually set in French provincial towns or in the American South. In the intense, claustrophobic atmosphere of these novels, neurotic characters engage in obsessive relationships marked by secrecy, guilt, betrayal, sexual passion, and violence. In 1970 the Académie Française awarded him its grand prize for literature in appreciation of his masterful French prose style, which is marked by clarity, precision, and simplicity. Green's works were collected in Complete Works , 10 vol. (1954–65).