The Swedish Academy today at 7am EST announced that Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. 

From Wikipedia (which was updated within minutes of the announcement):

A great traveler, J.M.G. Le Clézio has been writing since age seven
or eight. After majoring in French literature, he became famous at 23
with his first novel, Le Procès-Verbal (The Deposition), which was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt and for which he was awarded the Prix Renaudot in 1963.

Since then he has published about thirty books, including short
stories, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Indian
mythology, countless prefaces and reviews as well as a few
contributions to collective publications.

His writing career may be divided into two main periods:

• From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes like insanity,
  language, writing, devoting himself to formal experimentation in the
  wake of such contemporaries as Georges Perec or Michel Butor. Le Clézio's public image was that of an innovator and a rebel, drawing praise from Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze.

• In the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style underwent a drastic change; he
  abandoned experimentation and the mood of his novels became less
  tormented as he broached themes like childhood, adolescence or
  traveling, attracting a broader, more popular audience. In 1980, Le
  Clézio was the first winner of the newly created Prix Paul Morand, awarded to Désert by the Académie française.

In 1994 a survey conducted by the French literary magazine Lire showed that 13% of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French language writer.[3]

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2008.