We are honored to start the new year with Haitian poet, playwright and novelist Jean D’Amérique, whose name has been on many minds lately. Since his first poetry collection, Petite fleur du ghetto (Atelier Jeudi Soir) published in 2015, he has collected numerous awards, including most recently the Prix Apollinaire Découverte 2021, for Atelier du silence (Cheyne), the Prix André Dubreuil premier roman 2021 for his novel Soleil à coudre (Actes Sud), and the Prix RFI for his play Opéra poussière. Hailed as a rising star of contemporary Haitian letters, his style has been described as urgent, ferocious, vital. Kwazman Vwa’s Jocelyn Sutton Franklin and Corine Labridy will be in dialogue with D’Amérique, and the conversation will be held via Zoom, in French. Please register below to receive the link.
Head over here for more of Jean D’Amérique’s visual performances.
In the poem “citoyen de la république-fenêtre,” D’Amérique reflects on the way inhumane borders politics crush dreams and exacerbate the global health crisis, and what poetry can do about it.
We also invite you to read «Il n’y a qu’avec du sang que je peux remplir une page» — D’Amérique’s reaction to Haitian president Jovenel Moïse’s murder published in Libération in July 2021 or our colleague’s Nathan Dize’s excellent translation of it, published here.
kwazman vwa 