Poet - Haiti Observer Blog

Haiti's great writers seem to have an added edge that their contemporaries from other countries, on the same mass scale, simply don't. Along with the accolades of a 'good name' in the literary world, acclaimed works that will live on in posterity due to their massive capacity to inspire understanding, pathos and new knowledge in their readerships, and the ever entertaining narrative of simply good writing chops, the authors hailing from the country have an added layer of grit that often sees them in trouble with authority.

Not one to be left out of this distinction, Josaphat-Robert Large, novelist, poet and art critic, has too walked this seemingly prescribed path of any Haitian writer worth his or her salt. Born in November of 1942, Large grew up under the stifling Duvalier rule and found himself personally affected by the 'absurd order' given for students to stay home on an unlimited vacation, as answer to the student strike. His answer was to take to the streets, a specific ban having been imposed, and he was jailed for his temerity.

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Spending your formative years clandestinely watching movies from across a ravine could certainly be a surefire way of creating literary gold. It is the truth, at least, in the case of Haitian writer Louis-Philippe Dalembert. Born in 1962, in a time when the cinematic world was taking hold of Haiti and outdoor theatres were popping up all over, Dalembert, like many of the other folks in his neighborhood, gathered to watch the American westerns or Asian action films that often played, making up the dialogue, to themselves or as a collective, to fit the action.

This time was especially formative for Dalembert, who'd spent the first few years of his life growing up in Port-au-Prince, a city under the much stricter rule of 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. Though the happier 60's and 70's were more influential than the first six years of his life, this early period, officiously ruled by his no-nonsense grandmother and the strictures of religion proved necessary sources for one of his later novels, 'Le crayon du bon Dieu n'a pas de gomme'.

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Haitian culture's emblematic figure, Franketienne is a Haitian teacher, painter, actor, writer and poet. He has authored 40 books in Creole and French that include names like Ultravocal and Dezafi. His exceptional work has earned him numerous literary awards and prizes. He was born in 1936 and his original name was Franck Etienne. When it comes to painting and art, Franketienne is known for his abstract and colorful work and very often he has been found to be emphasizing on red and blue.

Franketienne is a protagonist - larger-than-life type of protagonist and even during the days when Haiti succumbed to the dictatorships of Papa Doc and Baby Doc, he was never forced by his fear to step down of the National Stage. Franketienne compares a dictator to sado-masochistic relationship where a master is served by his slaves and the very existence of a master depends on the existence of slaves. However, Franketienne never related the historic Haitian slavery with sado-masochistic relationship because even though the master-slave relationship held true in those days, the only problem was that the slaves were considered to be expendable because of excess supply.

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Jean Price-Mars, leading mind of the Black intelligentsia, assumed prominent roles in the Haitian government as a young person barely out of his teens. The government delegated him Ambassador of Haiti to France, Germany, the Dominican Republic, and U.S. His scientific aptitude led him to study anthropology and medicine, his gift for analysis made him an academician.

Price-Mars worked as teacher, politician, and writer. During his political career, he served as Secretary of State, ran for the presidency, and represented his country as two-term senator. As thinker and writer, he advocated negritude, a pride in being black and the empowerment that meant.

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Born in Jacmel in 1841 to a well-to-do mulatto couple, Hannibal Price began life above the curve. His well-funded education gave him the means to rise high in various respects and he became known as an author as well as a diplomat, having had the post of ambassador from Haiti to the United States for three years from 1890 until his death in 1893.

Price also acted as a Provisional Government Counselor after President Michel Domingue's fall in 1875 and was a serious advocate of Florvil Hyppolite. During the time he played the role of Minister Plenipotentiary to Washington he wrote the book he would be most known for entitled, 'De la Réhabilitation de la Race Noire par la République d'Haïti' (On the Rehabilitation of the Black Race by the Republic of Haiti). This further journey into authorship and the subject matter discussed was said to be in answer to 'Hayti or the Black Republic' by Spenser St. John. Published posthumously, the book sets about to comprehensively show all the possibilities for Haiti if the chains of illiteracy and the consuming practice of vodou were not in existence. It also endeavored to defend the Negro race and present the country to the foreign world in a more friendly light through the discourse of the history and social life of Haiti so voluminously documented within the pages.

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Great writers write what they know, and to know one must have experienced. It is perhaps the wealth of experience to be had growing up with the flavorful culture of Haiti, combined with the inherent 'growing up female' narrative to mold them why women Haitian writers number so many and are so excitingly prolific in their works. This undeniably compelling group of ladies has received an honor even greater than the awards recently issued to 8 among their field with this further acknowledgement of the worth of their words.

The setting was the Municipal Palace of Delmas, the day, Monday April 1, 2013, our protagonists, 8 wonderful writers whose dedication to their various forms of writing, as poets, short-story and novel writers, art critics and educators, was honored by the Ministry of Culture in a ceremony alive with music from the Congolese 'Drums of Brazza'. Edith Lataillade, Marilisse Neptune Rouzier, Marianne Lehmann, Marie-Alice Théard, Evelyne Trouillot, Marie-Marthe Balin Paul, Charlotte Barlatier Cadet and Paula Clermont Péan were given plaques of merit honoring their literary contributions that have benefited the literature of Haiti by enriching it and giving voice to the issues faced by women in Haitian society.

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Jean Metellus is a Haitian born neurologist, a playwright, a poet and novelist. He was born in Jacmel, Haiti on April 30, 1937. He completed his education in Republic of Haiti and later became a teacher. He escaped Duvalier's dictatorship by fleeing to Paris in 1959. In Paris he studied medicine and linguistics and obtained specialization in neurology. Jean was a gifted poet by birth and wrote several poems. He sent his poems to ethnologist Michel Leiris who then advised him to send his poemes to Maurice Nadeau who as Les Lettres Nouvelles editor. Jean also sent his poems to Jean-Paul Sartre. Jean Metellus' poems were published by Maurice Nadeau in Les Lettres Nouvelles and by Jean-Paul Sarte in Les Temps Modernes. Both these publications were made in July 1969.

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A formal denial from the government was delivered by Ady Jean Gardy, Minister of Communication in Port-au-Prince that in the year 2005, Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a musician and others had kidnapped, tortured and then killed Jacques Roche, a poet and journalist.

Accusations Made By Francoise Annick Joseph
Francoise Annick Joseph, the Artibonite/Inite Senator made the accusations. He stated that he had just recalled the news that in Haiti everyone knows about this. He states that Michel Martelly was a personality involved in the case in which Jacques Roche; a journalist was killed after being handcuffed, kidnapped, tortured and shot dead on 10th July 2005 in Port-au-Prince.

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Miami-Dade College has appointed a new Executive Director of the Haitian-American Professionals Coalition (HAPC), Diana A Bien-Aime. An instructor in the Speech Communications Department at Miami-Dade, she is completing courses for her Ph.D. in Leadership and Communication. Born in New York State, she graduated from University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in 2001, and Masters in Organizational Communications in 2007, at Barry University.

Bien-Aime uses her degrees to work with organizations as a communications facilitator, and moderate education forum events on television. She is also a poet and motivational speaker. Confident in her new role, she shares her perspective on what will make HAPC an effectively-run organization: "Collegiality and professionalism . . . . along with the longevity of commitment to . . . (the) community's issues."
Her priorities as the new Executive Director are to persuade members to commit to strategies that will spur economic growth and offer mediation, formulating policy resources, civic involvement, and membership alliances.

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