Celebrated author Jean D’Amérique, lauded one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Haitian literature, will be speaking on his debut novel, A Sun to be Sewn. A rhythmic, phantasmagoric journey into a Haitian neighborhood plagued by violence, the work adopts the voice of a child to observe the many tragedies and cruelties of the adult world. At the center of this story, D’Amérique carves out a space for love as a redemptive and remedial force. The result is a poetic, dream-infused account of the harshness of reality and the imaginative work which permits one to survive it. Join D’Amérique, in conversation with his English translator Thierry Kehou, at the Library as they speak on language, form, genre, the Haitian present, and the Haitian future. 

About the speakers:

Jean D’Amérique is a poet, playwright, and novelist. He is the director of the festival Transe Poétique and the poetry journal Davertige. He received the Prix de Poésie de la Vocation for his poetry collection Nul chemin dans la peau que saignante étreinte (2017) and the Prix Jean-Jacques Lerrant des Journées de Lyon des Auteurs de Théâtre for his play Cathédrale des cochons (2020). A Sun to be Sewn (2021) was awarded the Prix littéraire Montluc Résistance et Libérté 2022.

Thierry Kehou is a writer and literary translator from French. He is a founder and board member of Lampblack, a magazine and literary organization. His writing and translation have appeared in Departures Magazine, Lampblack, The Huron River Review, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of a Fulbright, a Katherine Bakeless Nason Endowment Scholarship from the Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, and his completed translation of Francis Bebey’s Three Little Shoeshiners was longlisted for the 2020 John Dryden Translation Competition. A Sun to be Sewn is his debut translation.

Important information: The discussion will be available both online and in person. While the conversation will happen in person (D’Amérique will appear in the Reading Room and Kehou will appear on Zoom), the Library will stream the conversation on Zoom for a live viewing experience. Both in-person and online attendees will be able to pose questions.

This event requires advance registration.

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