French novelist Patrick Modiano is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, adding to the University of Nebraska Press backlist of Nobel Prize winners.

Modiano is the author of Out of the Dark, which was translated by University of Nebraska–Lincoln professor Jordan Stump and published by UNP, which the New York Times Book Review called “suspenseful and contemplative.”

According to Stump, Out of the Dark is sad, dreamy, funny, elusive, and a love story that’s mostly about loss.

“He’s an extraordinary, entirely sui generis writer, and has been since the late sixties,” said Stump. “This prize is long overdue; I couldn’t be happier.”

UNP published the first English translation of Out of the Dark in 1998.

“We are so proud that the latest Nobel Laureate, Patrick Modiano, is the third Nebraska author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in the last six years,” said Donna Shear, director of UNP. “This speaks to the enduring value and importance of our books, not just to Nebraskans but to the entire world.”

UNP’s other Nobel prize–winning authors include Herta Müller (Nadirs, 1999) and J. M. G.  Le Clezio (Onitsha, 1997; The Round and Other Cold Hard Facts, 2002; and Mondo and Other Stories, 2011).