Haitian fiction translated into English

I'd been thinking about doing this post for a while, but there was always another priority on my to-do list. A couple of days ago I finished reading Americanah. I really enjoyed it and it got me thinking about how good it feels to find a book that you can really fall into, whether as an escape or to expand your knowledge.

Books have always had a special place here at Tande. A couple of years ago, we even had a debate about translation, about making works available to Haitian Americans and others who might not be able to read them in the original. So, I thought I'd draw up a quick list. I hope that you'll find the same joy and excitement reading them that I did with Adichie's latest.

Classics:


Jacques Roumain's Masters of the Dew.
For Jacques Stéphen Alexis, both General Sun, My Brother and In the Flicker of an Eyelid are available.
Love, Anger, Madness by Marie Vieux-Chauvet and René Philoctète's Massacre River are both favorites of mine. Although I don't know if the Philoctète, first published in 1989 qualifies as a classic yet. What's the timeframe on that? Oh, and let's add René Depestre's  The Festival of the Greasy Pole.





Contemporary works:

There are actually too many available to name them all. I'll just list a few of my favorites. I actually haven't read any of these translations -- just the originals, so I hope the translations are as good!

An Aroma of Coffee by Dany Laferrière

Children of Heroes by Lyonel Trouillot

Reflections of Loko Miwa by Lilas Desquiron

Two English translations of contemporary novels will be available in the coming weeks -- one set in colonial St. Domingue: Evelyne Trouillot's The Infamous Rosalie, and one set during the tumultuous demonstrations that rocked Port-au-Prince in early 2004: Yanick Lahens' The Colour of Dawn.


Please feel free to add any books I've forgotten. For those who do read French and Creole, are there any works you'd love to see translated into English?

Happy Reading!

NM

Tann pou Tann

Fò n gen kouraj pou n tann!                                                           
-Master Dji

Gen mou ki di se pa lajan ki pi bon mezi pou w evalye valè richès yon moun genyen -- se ta tan pito. Mwen pa ekonomis, men m dakò ak panse sa a. Antanke pwofesè, youn nan moman mwen tann avèk plis enpasyans nan ane a, se vakans twa mwa. Mwen konnen se lè sa a map kapab avanse pi byen nan tout dosye map jere. Toujou gen anpil travay -- e tout travay yo pa peye! -- men kòm mwen pa gen kou pou m fè, mwen pi alèz kan menm.

Mwen pa konn pou nou, men youn nan bagay ki ka fè m pi nève se lè yon moun fè m pèdi tan. Semenn pase a, mwen te al labank pou m al pran yon chekye. Anplis tann mwen oblije tann, mwen pat satisfè ak sèvis mwen resevwa a. M oblije tounen kèk jou apre ak yon moun kap travay labank la pou l ede m -- ede m jwenn chekye pa m mwen fin komande. Ala traka. M pa konn  kòman moun ki pa gen moun kap travay labank fè.

Vandredi ki te 14 jen an, m te al nan Ayiti Deploge ak yon kouzin mwen. Mwen te toujou byen renmen lide dèyè pwogram sa a: fè yon piblik konnen chantè kap parèt pandan yo vin tande atis yo fin apresye yo. Se vre jouswa sa a te gen plizyè chantè enteresan tankou Annie Alerte. Men spektak la ki te dwe kòmanse a 9è kòmanse a 11è. Si se te yon bal, mwen ta konprann, men se te yon spektak. Moun te bouke tann, sitou animatè a te vrèman pale twop. Lè m deside ale, li te preske 2zè, Thierry Cham, ki te envite spesyal la potko janm monte sou sèn lan.

Siman gen moun ki gentan di se konsa bagay yo ye nan domenn mizik la. M pa fin kwè sa. Si se vre, se pa mizik sèlman. Ane sa a, m pat gen tan patisipe nan anpil aktivite Quinzaine du Livre la, men m te asiste detwa kan menm. Konsa, madi 28 me, mwen te al tande Delia Blanco pale sou literati dominiken ak ayisyen nan enstiti franse a. Konferans la komanse ak trant minit reta ki fè, mwen pat ka rete pou m patisipe nan diskisyon ki te suiv konferans la. M te gen kesyon pou m poze, men m pat dispoze plis tan. Pafwa m gen enpresyon oganizatè diferan aktivite yo panse moun pa gen lòt bagay pou yo fè; yo dispoze pase tout apremidi ou a oubyen sware a avèk yo. Ala bèl sa ta bèl si se te vre! M ale nan plizyè kòlòk ki kòmanse anreta oubyen kote prezantatè yo pa vini ditou. Erezman, sa pa rive souvan.

Lotjou m byen sezi, m rive Lekòl Nòmal pou yon reyinyon ki te konvoke a 10è, se mwen sèl ki te la. Li te 10è edmi, reyinyon an potko  kòmanse. Mwen deside pa rete. Lè pou m deplase, te gen yon machin ki te pake dèyè pa m la. Avèk tan m pase pou m desann lavil epi pou m remonte, m pèdi preske twazèdtan antou.

Donk, lè m fin plenyen tout plenyen sa yo, nou ka mande ki pwojè mwen genyen pou vakans lan ki fè m ap veye tan an konsa. M gen liv mwen kòmanse li kèk jou, m poko fini: Cathédrale du mois d’août epi Absences sans frontières. Mwen bezwen li liv nouvèl Louis-Philippe Dalmebert la tou. Mwen toujou ap chèche nouvèl pou kou sou jan sa a m ap anseye Lekòl Nòmal depi preske 10zan!

Anplis liv pou m li, m gen pwojè. M ap travay sou yon liv Haiti Reader avek 4 kolèg nan 4 inivèsite diferan. Mwen gen plizye dosye pou m prepare pou ile en ile ak pwojè tradiksyon. Anplis kowdòinsasyon seksyon not lekti nan Journal of Haitian Studies.

Donk m pa panse m ap gen anpil tan lib pandan ete a, men m ap kapab jere sa m genyen an jan m vle. Se deja pa mal.



NM