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Haiti

February-2024-Mother-Language-Day-List-Feature (1)

Clockwise from top left: Bikash Dihingia, Risten Sokki, Imran Sada'i, Boubacar Boris Diop, Gawani Gaongen, Jean D'Amerique, Adriana Paredes Pinda, Emiliana Bernard-Stephenson

International Mother Language Day: 8 Writers to Read Now

By Words Without Borders

In celebration of International Mother Language Day, we’re spotlighting 8 writers working in their heritage languages, from Wolof and Kankanaey to Uyghur and Mapudungun.

Four cloth sheep hang from a child's ceiling mobile

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Poem for Children with Trouble Sleeping

By Jean D’Amérique

don’t beat yourself up / that’s why the cops have jobs

Translated from Haitian Creole by Nathan H. Dize

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The covers of the five books featured in the Watchlist

The Watchlist: September 2022

By Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll recommends new and exciting books in translation from Sudan, Belgium, Haiti, France, and South Korea.

July 2022 Poetry Collection Feature

8 Poetry Collections in Translation to Read in 2022

By Words Without Borders

Recent and forthcoming poetry in translation from Mexico, South Korea, Croatia, Haiti, and more.

The Watchlist: January 2022

By Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll recommends exciting new books in translation from Mexico, Norway, Haiti, Argentina, and Japan.

Twelve Years Later, Kettly Mars Reflects on the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti and the Novels It Inspired

By Nathan H. Dize

The earthquake opened new sociopolitical avenues to be addressed in literary fiction.

Translated from French by the author

PEN International Celebrates 100 Years

By Joanne Leedom-Ackerman

PEN members today not only gather for literary events in their home countries and internationally but also defend writers and the freedom to write worldwide.

From I Am Alive

At eighty-six years old, Éliane had to stand up and confront her own private nightmare.

Translated from French by Nathan H. Dize

How Can We Better Publish Black Writers in Translation?

By Words Without Borders

This month, WWB took a look back at some of the important writing on race and racism to be found in the magazine's archives.

Respecting the Diversity of Creativity

By Évelyne Trouillot

It would be naive to speak of editorial decisions without taking into account power relationships and established patterns of prejudice that undergird the publishing industry.

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw

Global Blackness: Black Writers in Translation

By Eric M. B. Becker

Engaging the evolving dialogue that broadens definitions of global Blackness.

Detour

By Évelyne Trouillot

“Trouillot’s most striking childhood memories of the Duvalier dictatorship remain the image of Duvalier’s militiamen searching her family’s and neighbor’s houses for publications and other works of art deemed subversive.”—Edwidge Danticat

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw

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Primal Needs

By Évelyne Trouillot

Was there still a second floor? Don’t think about it.

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw

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Season of Grief

By Guy-Gerald Ménard

Entwined concrete houses / perform pirouettes on both sides of the street

Translated from Haitian Creole by Chantal Kenol

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Under the Rubble

By Guy-Gerald Ménard

Fear sets up a tent / on our chest

Translated from Haitian Creole by Chantal Kenol

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from “At the Borders of Thirst”

You needed a guide, one of those men who lived off the flesh and blood of the camp.

Translated from French by David Ball & Nicole Ball

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Time Stretches Out and My Words Do, Too

By Yanick Lahens

I keep saying that Haiti is neither a postcard nor a nightmare.

Translated from French by David Ball & Nicole Ball

January 12, 2010

By Lyonel Trouillot

We already know there are no words for saying some things.

Translated from French by Linda Coverdale

Port-au-Prince on an IV Drip

By Louis-Philippe Dalembert

drip drop / port-au-prince’s life slips away

Translated from Haitian Creole by Nadève Ménard

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In All Magnitude

I abhor humanitarianism.

Translated from French by Antoine Bargel & Alexis Pernsteiner

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Neverending Story: Haiti’s Vibrant Literary Sphere Endures

By Nadève Ménard

The temblor of January 10, 2010, has become part of Haiti’s literary landscape.

The World is Moving Around Me

By Dany Laferrière

I understand now that a minute can hold the entire life of a city.

Translated from French by David Homel

From “La Belle Amour Humaine”

By Lyonel Trouillot

Now that I no longer see, I see no better use of my presence in this world than to look out the window.

Translated from French by Linda Coverdale

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Brine, Blood, and Mother’s Milk

By Évelyne Trouillot

I still tremble from the child's furtive attention.

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw

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Heading South

By Dany Laferrière

At the age of twelve I realized that I could do whatever I wanted with women.

Translated from French by Tanyika Carey

In the Shade of the Almond Tree

By Évelyne Trouillot

Why doesn't your mother come back to look for you, constantly asked the woman.

Translated from French by Paul Curtis Daw