Kwazman Vwa is delighted to welcome author Jean Abel Pierre. Pierre will be with us to discuss his recent book, Sociologie critique de la corruption: Comment Haïti est pris au piège de la pauvreté. Corruption is a subject that concerns us all, and somehow, our preoccupation with limiting its effects and abuses never seem to fully eliminate it entirely. In Sociologie Critique de la Corruption, Pierre charts a roadmap for understanding how development, “good governance,” and neoliberalism further instill corruption in our political and economic systems. With a specific focus on Haiti, Pierre shows how corruption is something more than a colonial inheritance, rather, it is part of an economic framework cultivated by domestic and international forces. Our guest will be in conversation with Erika Serrato and Nathan Dize, and the event is kindly sponsored by the Department of French and Italian at Oberlin College. Register below!

Kwazman vwa is delighted to welcome editor, translator and author, Paula Anacaona. Anacaona will be discussing two of her graphic novels, Solitude la flamboyante and 1492: Anacaona, l’insurgée des Caraïbes. These works have this in common: they center two revolutionary women who rose against colonial powers and yet are often left out of history books. Paula Anacaona is also the founder of Editions Anacaona, dedicated to promoting transatlantic dialogues between francophone and Brazilian authors and intellectuals, through the publication of essays, novels, and children’s books. Our guest will be in conversation with Erika Serrato and Jennifer Boum Make, and the event is kindly sponsored by the Department of French and Francophone Studies at Georgetown University. Register below!

For its first event of 2023, Kwazman Vwa welcomes Michaëla Danjé. Danjé is a multi-talented Afro-Caribbean artist with Guadeloupean roots. In addition to writing, rapping, and creating music beats, she is a founding member of Cases Rebelles, an anti-authoritarian collective of creators, thinkers and social activists. The collective’s approach, which they define as PanAfroRevolutionary, unfolds via multiple paths, including books, a socially engaged podcast, and cultural events. In 2021, Cases Rebelles published AfroTrans, a rich volume of essays, interviews, poems and short fictions designed as an open space for Black trans artists, activists and intellectuals to tell their own stories on their own terms, away from the archival eye. Danjé will be discussing AfroTrans as well as Cases Rebelles’ current and future projects with Kwazman Vwa’s Jocelyn Sutton Franklin and Corine Labridy. The interview will be in French via zoom. This event is generously sponsored by the Francophone, Italian, & Germanic Studies Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Register below.

We are beyond honored to welcome Fabienne Kanor and Lynn Palermo, who will be discussing the translation of Humus (UVA Press) published in 2020. Fabienne Kanor is a professor, an award-winning author, filmmaker, poet, and a translator as well, who has dedicated her life’s work to studying race and gender in France and the French-Speaking African diaspora. With each one of her projects, she carefully fills in the blanks of colonial history by telling untold or forgotten stories. Lynn Palermo is an award-winning translator and professor whose teaching often integrates translation. She received a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Grant to support her work on Humus, which was was short-listed for the National Translation Award for prose in 2021. Her translation endeavors stretch beyond literature, and include volunteering at United Nations-affiliated NGOs. Our very own Lucy Swanson and Jennifer Boum Make will moderate this conversation, in both French and English. Register at the form below to receive the zoom link.

For our next conversation, we are switching gears a little bit by welcoming Agnès Cornélie, the founder of Librairie Calypso, a bookstore that opened its doors in Paris in 2020. A native of Guadeloupe, Cornélie created a space exclusively dedicated to celebrating literatures from all French Outre-Mer regions as well as the broader Caribbean. She will talk to us about the latest books to make it on her shelves and what it’s like to be the first Caribbean bookstore in Paris. Our esteemed colleagues Jennifer Boum Make and Lucy Swanson will welcome her for this conversation, which will be held in French via zoom. Register below to receive the link.

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.