The writer Bernard Werber exchanging at the Hue French Institute

Bernard Werber was born in 1961 in Toulouse, France and began his writing career in the 1990s. Bernard is one of the most popular contemporary writers in “the wine country”, so his personal page has 243,000 followers and regularly receive interaction from readers and fans. 

Bernard Werber studied law and criminology in Toulouse and then entered journalism school in Paris. He worked for many newspapers, such as L'Événement, Le Point, VSD, etc., and was in charge of the science column for Le Nouvel Observateur for 7 years. His first outstanding report was conducted abroad, with the theme of safari ants in Ivory Coast. 

Bernard’s writing style is diverse and flexible, combining many literary genres including saga, science fiction and philosophical ideas. Most of his novels share similar patterns and common characters, skillfully combining art and seemingly dry scientific knowledge.

To date, Bernard Werber has completed 30 books of diverse genres, ranging from novels to short stories, plays, etc. His books have been translated into 30 languages and achieved sales of 23 million copies worldwide. 

“Ant Trilogy” is a series consisting of three volumes, namely “Ant”, “Ant Revolution” and “Ant’s Day” published by Nha Nam Publishing House. The series describes an ant “empire” that existed on our planet more than a hundred million years ago with kingdoms, modern weapons and formidable technology. The series has been translated into more than 30 languages and received awards from readers of Sciences et Avenir. 

“Pandora’s Box” is an adventure through the lives from Paris, Atlantis to Egypt of René, a history teacher, which helps “enlighten” him of the law of cause and effect, how those past lives have influenced his current life. Through his work, Bernard introduced to the public a new literary genre called “fictional philosophy”, combining science fiction, philosophy and spirituality. 

At the exchange with Hue readers, Bernard Werber shared a lot about his writing experiences and the unique worldview of a fiction writer. Bernard confided that he chose this genre because he always wanted to challenge himself. Fiction novels are difficult to write and require borderless creativity. Previously, he had no intention of becoming a writer. He just wrote because this hobby brought him comfort, and publishing books was a way to show gratitude for the fruits of his labor. At that time, he didn’t even know that writing books could make money. 

During his visit to Hue, Bernard enjoyed the experience of writing books at a cafe in the Citadel, a lovely space next to the lake, while enjoying tea and watching fish swimming around. “It's an ideal place to write, and you guys should try it” said  Bernard. 

Story and photo: THUC DAN