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Books on
Haiti and the Caribbean
Paul Laraque and Jack Hirschman.
Open Gate An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry
(2001)
Hubert Cole.
Christophe: King of Haiti. New York: The Viking
Press, 1967.
C.L.R. James.
The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo
Revolution (1938)
Edourad Gissant.
Caribbean Doscourse (2004)
/ Barbara Harlow.
Resistance Literature (1987)
Josaphat B. Kubayanda.
The Poet's Africa: Africanness in the Poetry of Nicolas Guillen
and Aime Cesaire (1990)
David P. Geggus, ed.
The Impact of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World.
University of South Carolina Press, 2001.
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Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry
Edited by Paul Laraque and Jack
Hirschman
Reviews
Open Gate
is the first bilingual collection of modern Haitian Creole
poetry available to English readers. These stunning lyrics
provide a fascinating look into Haitian culture, addressing a
wide range of subjects--love, hardship, nature, and the violent
political repression endemic in Haiti. yet the humor, vitality,
and linguistic richness of these poems testify to Haiti's
indomitable spirit and the struggle for freedom.
--Publisher, Curbstone Press
This
essential poetic collection is divided into three sections: the
pioneers of modern Haitian Creole poetry, the poets of the
literary movement, "Society of Butterflies,"
representing the flowering of Haitian poetry in the sixties, and
The New Generation, featuring writers of the diaspora and poetry
of the last 15 years.
-- Book Description,
Amazon.com
This is a groundbreaking anthology. the very
existence of this collection demands respect for Haitian Creole
and the people who speak, write, and live in this language.
Haiti is more than a political and economic crisis, the same way
that Vietnam is more than a war.
Haiti is also
poetry of tender lyricism and ,ilitant fire. there is an
education here for those who are willing to learn; our teachers
range from pioneering writers like Paul Larague to dynamic young
poets like Patrick Sylvan. their voices have proven stronger and
more resilient than all the dictators and secret police in
Haiti's troubled history. At last these voices sing in English
too, and we should listen.
--Martin Espada
The first such
collection available in English,
Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry
begins with works from the grandfather
of Creole literature, Felix Morisseau-Leroy, and rounds out with
today's poets in diaspora. Edited by Paul Laraque and Jack
Hirschman, the collection addresses the poverty, violence, and
political struggle that characterize Haitian history, but there
are also poems celebrating love or nature or simply the
quotidian.
As
George Castera writes in "Blood," "Let's go see
the blood flow,/ darling./ For once in a lifetime,/ it's not
people's blood spilling,/ for once in the street/ it's not
animal's blood flowing,/ let's go see the blood flow,/ darling:/
the sun is setting."
--Publishers
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updated 16 October 2007 |
