Lyonel Trouillot | |
|---|---|
 Lyonel Trouillot at a live broadcast from the Paris Book Fair, March 2010. | |
| Born | 31 December 1956 Port-au-Prince, Haiti |
| Language | French, Haitian Creole |
| Genre | novels, poetry, song lyrics |
| Notable awards | Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde (2013) |
Lyonel Trouillot (born 31 December 1956, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a novelist and poet in French and Haitian Creole, a journalist and a professor of French and Creole literature in Port-au-Prince.
Lyonel Trouillot was born into a family of lawyers. [1] He has a brother, Michel-Rolph Trouillot (anthropologist and historian), and his two sisters are he writer Évelyne Trouillot and the writer and educator Jocelyne Trouillot. [2] [3] Following his parents' divorce in the late 1960s, he went to the United States with his mother. He returned to Haiti at age 19, in 1975. [4]
Between 1980 and 1982, political repression forced Trouillot to emigrate to Miami. [1]
Trouillot initially studied law, but his passion for literature pushed him towards a career as a writer. [1] At the start of his career, Trouillot contributed to several different newspapers and magazines in Haiti, publishing poetry and writing song lyrics for musical artists such as Tambou Libète, Toto Bissainthe, Jean Coulanges, and Manno Charlemagne. [5]
Trouillot began publishing his work in Port-au-Prince. His first novel Les fous de Saint-Antoine was published in 1989 by Editions Deschamps, prefaced by his mentor, René Philoctète. His second book, Le Livre de Marie, was published in 1993 by Editions Mémoire, and his third novel, Rue des pas-perdus, was published in 1998 by Actes Sud in Paris. In 2000, Thèrese en mille morceaux, published by Actes Sud, made him known worldwide.
Trouillot's poetic writing, close to spiralism (a Haitian literary genre stemming from the Duvalier regimes) attracted readers and publishers alike. His exceptional talent and the depth of his writing place him among some of the greatest Francophone authors. [6] His novel La Belle Amour humaine earned him a place among the four finalists for the Prix Goncourt in 2011 [7] – ultimately won that year by Alexis Jenni for L'Art français de la guerre . [8] In 2013, he paid homage to Haitian comedian Karl Marcel Casséus in Parabole du failli. [9]
In addition to writing, Trouillot has taken on many other projects throughout his career. Along with his sister Évelyne Trouillot and her daughter Nadève Ménard, he founded a writer's organisation named Pré-Texte. [2] In 2014 he wrote, with Raoul Peck and Pascal Bonitzer, the script for Peck's feature film Murder in Pacot . Trouillot is also a co-editor of the journal Cahiers du Vendredi, as well as cofounder and director of Atelier Jeudi Soir. [10]
Trouillot is known for his political stances, and for his resistance to the Haitian Duvalierist dictatorship. He was also part of the Collective Non of intellectuals and artists that helped to build momentum for the U.S. and paramilitary-backed ouster of the democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He was a member of the unelected transitional government following the departure of Aristide, as a cabinet minister of culture. [1] The unelected transitional government of Gerard Latortue (that Trouillot was a member of between 2004 and 2006) was shown to be involved in massive human rights violations and to work closely with the "families" of the local elite groups within the country while being heavily funded by the US Bush regime: http://www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf
As an activist for democracy and justice in his country, his works often give voice to the voiceless, as seen in his 2004 novel Bicentenaire. In 2016, during an interview in Libération for the publication of his novel Kannjawou, Lyonel Trouillot dencounced the dominance of Evangelical Christian denominations in Haiti. [11] Trouillot is also a founding member of the Rasanbleman pou Diyite Ayiti (RADI), which denounces many acts of violence and inequality in the country. [12]
Trouillot was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2010.
In 2011, he was awarded the Prix Wepler for his novel Yanvalou pour Charlie. [13] For La Belle Amour humane, he was awarded the Grand Prix du Roman Métis (2011), [14] the Geneva Book Fair Literary Prize (2012), [15] and the Gitanjali Literary Prize (2012). [16]
In 2013, he was awarded the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde for his work, Parabole du failli. [17]
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award.
Dany Laferrière is a Haitian-Canadian novelist and journalist who writes in French. He was elected to seat 2 of the Académie française on 12 December 2013, and inducted in May 2015.
René Depestre is a Haitian poet and former communist activist. He is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. He lived in Cuba as an exile from the Duvalier regime for many years and was a founder of the Casa de las Américas publishing house. He is best known for his poetry.
Jean Duvignaud was a French novelist, sociologist and anthropologist. He was born in La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, on February 22, 1921.
Josaphat-Robert Large was a Euro-Haitian-American poet, novelist and art critic. His novel Les terres entourées de larmes [Shore surrounded with tears] won the prestigious Prix littéraire des Caraïbes in 2003. He was nominated for the Haitian grand Literary Prize of 2004, together with Edwidge Danticat, René Depestre, Frankétienne, Gary Klang, Dany Laferrière and Leslie Manigat.
Louis-Philippe Dalembert is a Haitian poet and novelist. He writes in both French and Haitian creole. His works have been translated into several languages. He was awarded the Goncourt Prize for poetry for his body of work. He now divides his home between Paris and Port-au-Prince.
Gary Klang, is a Haitian-Canadian poet and novelist. Since 2007, he is the president of the prestigious "Conseil des Écrivains francophones d'Amérique". Klang's work is very rich. It includes novels, poetry, short stories and essays. On July 14, 2000, "l'Union Française à Montréal" chose Gary as the promoter of the French national holiday marking the storming of the Bastille. The same day, the same French Union participated in the launch of his collection of verses "La terre est vide comme une étoile". Gary Klang is also a member of the "Association des Ecrivains Québécois (UNEQ)", a member of the "Association des Ecrivains de langue française" and of the PEN Club of Montreal. He was nominated for the Haitian grand Literary Prize of 2004, together with Edwidge Danticat, René Depestre, Frankétienne, Dany Laferrière, Josaphat-Robert Large and Leslie Manigat.
Alain Nadaud was a French novelist, writer and diplomat. He was born in Paris and studied literature at Nanterre, obtaining a master's degree. Nadaud then taught literature abroad, in Nouakchott, Mauritania and in Basra, Iraq. After completing a doctorate, he went abroad again to teach French in Kwara state in Nigeria. Back in Paris, he taught philosophy until 1985.
Jean-Noël Pancrazi is a French author.
The Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde is an annual award given to the best literary work in French or French Creole from the Caribbean and the Americas.
The Grand prix des lectrices de Elle is a French literary prize awarded by readers of Elle magazine.
Metin Arditi, born 2 February 1945 in Ankara, is a French-speaking Swiss writer of Turkish Sephardi origin.
Gary Victor is a Haitian writer, playwright, and scriptwriter for television and radio. His radio sketches and the uncompromising tone of his television series on the manners of the Haitian bourgeoisie provoked controversy and discussion. He also served as the General Secretary of the Senate of Haiti from 1996 to 2000.
Yanick Lahens is a Haitian Francophone writer, novelist, teacher, and lecturer. She became a Prix Femina laureate in 2014.
Évelyne Trouillot is a Haitian author, writing in French and Creole.
Émile Ollivier was a Haitian-born educator and writer living in Quebec, Canada. He was considered one of the most important Haitian writers of his time.
Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members.
Alain Ferry is a French professor and writer, recipient of the 2009 edition of the prix Médicis essai for his novel Mémoire d'un fou d'Emma, drawn from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
Christian Gailly was a French writer.
The prix Wepler is a French literary award established in 1998 at the initiative of the Abbesses Bookshop, with the support of the La Poste Foundation, and the Brasserie Wepler and which distinguishes, in the month of November, a contemporary author. It works with a rotating jury system.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
