Dany Laferrière is an acclaimed novelist, essayist, poet, journalist and public intellectual. Winner
of the prestigious Prix Medicis, Laferrière is the first Haitian, Canadian and Québécois to be
elected to the Académie française. Laferrière is renowned for chronicling the immigrant
experience, and is considered to be one of the finest novelists of his generation.
Laferrière was born and raised in Haiti, and worked as a journalist and radio broadcaster. In
1976, he fled Haiti very suddenly when a colleague was murdered. He settled in Montréal, where
he worked in low-paid jobs while he wrote his first, and very successful, novel. It was published
in 1987, under the title “Comment faire l’amour avec un Nègre sans se fatigue” (translation:
“How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired”). Later, a feature film based on the novel
was made, and several other feature films have been made that based on Laferrière’s novels.
In 2009, Laferrière won the prestigious Prix Médicis, a French literary award given each year in
November, for his 11th novel, “L’énigme du retour” (translation: “The Return.”). He has also
written many other novels, a collection of poetry, two children’s books, and memoirs, including
his 2012 book “Tout bouge autour de moi” (translation: “The World is Moving Around Me”), his
first-hand account of his experience of the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010.
Laferrière has been honoured on several occasions with significant awards, including:
in 2014, the House of World Cultures gave him the International Literature Award for his
novel “L’énigme du retour,” and he was appointed officer of the National Order of Quebec;
in 2015, he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada with the grade of officer; and
in 2016, he won the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for his literary
achievements.
(Sources: The Canadian Encyclopedia and Wikipedia)
Photo source: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
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