Émile Zola (1840-1902) was a French novelist, playwright, journalist, and the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism. More than half of Zola's novels were part of a set of 20 collectively known as Les Rougon-Macquart, following a family under the Second Empire. He was a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration of the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus, which is encapsulated in the renowned newspaper headline J'accuse. Zola was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.
Related / Latest publication(s)
The Disappearance of Emile Zola (Faber, 2017)