Dany Laferrière

Dany Laferrière studied at Collège Canado-Haïtien. The recorded working language is Haitian Creole and French. The field of work recorded is literary activity, journalism and film. Positions recorded include member of the Académie française. Distinctions recorded are Commander of the Legion of Honour, Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde and Prix RFO du livre.

Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Petit-Goâve, Laferrière worked as a journalist in Haiti before moving to Canada in 1976. He also worked as a journalist in Canada and hosted television programming for the TQS network. Laferrière published his first novel, How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) in 1985. The novel was later adapted into a screenplay by Laferrière and Richard Sadler, earning a Genie Award nomination for best adapted screenplay at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990. The film adaptation of the novel starred Isaach De Bankolé and was directed by Jacques W. Benoit. Laferrière writes exclusively in French, although some of his works have been published in English translation by David Homel. Several further films have been adapted from his work, including On the Verge of a Fever (Le Goût des jeunes filles) in 2004 and Heading South (Vers le sud) in 2005. He also wrote the original screenplays for Voodoo Taxi in 1991 and How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit) in 2004, and was the director of the latter. In 2009, Laferrière won the prestigious Prix Médicis for his 11th novel, L'énigme du retour. Upon receiving the prize, he commented on its ability to open up a new readership in France, giving him visibility there. In the past, Laferrière had always refused to be published in the fall, a season associated with the great literary prizes, but had been recommended to do so with L'énigme du retour by his editors. The novel follows Laferrière as he returns to his birthplace in Haiti, 33 years after he left it, upon learning of his father's death in New York City. The narrative blurs the line between prose and poetry, resembling haiku structures in some sections. On 12 December 2013, Laferrière was elected on the first round of balloting to Seat no. 2 of the Académie française, becoming the first Haitian, the first Canadian and the first Quebecer to receive that honour. He is the second black person to have been inducted, the first being Senegalese writer and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor in 1983. On 3 June 2014, he was awarded the International Literature Award by the House of World Cultures for his novel The Return (L'enigme du retour). In 2014, he was appointed officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2015, Laferrière was awarded the Order of Canada with the grade of officer. In 2016, Laferrière won the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for his literary achievements. At various times, Laferrière has resided in Montreal, Paris, and Miami.

Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer, 1985 (Éditions VLB) English translation How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired, 1987 (Coach House Press) Éroshima, 1987 (Éditions VLB) English translation Eroshima, 1991 (Coach House Press) L'odeur du café, 1991 (Éditions VLB) English translation An Aroma of Coffee, 1993 (Coach House Press) Le goût des jeunes filles, 1992 (Éditions VLB) English translation Dining with the Dictator, 1994 (Coach House Press) Cette grenade dans la main du jeune nègre est-elle une arme ou un fruit?, 1993 (Éditions VLB), Prix RFO du livre (2002) English translation Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?, 1994 (Coach House Press) Chronique de la dérive douce 1994 (Éditions VLB, poetry) English translation A Drifting Year, 1997 (Douglas & McIntyre) Pays sans chapeau, 1996 (Éditions Lanctôt) English translation Down Among the Dead Men, 1997 (Douglas & McIntyre) La chair du maître, 1997 (Éditions Lanctôt) Le charme des après-midi sans fin, 1997 (Éditions Lanctôt) Le cri des oiseaux fous, 2000 (Serpent à plumes) J'écris comme je vis; Entretien avec Bernard Magnier, 2000 (Éditions La passe du vent) Je suis fatigué, 2000 (Les librairies initiales) Je suis fou de Vava, 2005 (Éditions de la Bagnole) Pays sans chapeau, 2006 (Éditions du Boréal) Vers le Sud, 2006 (Grasset) English translation Heading South, 2008 (Douglas & McIntyre) Je suis un écrivain japonais English translation I Am a Japanese Writer, 2010 (Douglas & McIntyre) La fête des morts, 2009 (Éditions de la Bagnole) L'énigme du retour, 2009 (Québec: Boréal, France: Grasset) English translation The Enigma of the Return, 2011 (Douglas & McIntyre) Tout bouge autour de moi, 2010 (Mémoire d'encrier) English translation "The World is Moving Around Me", 2013 (Arsenal Pulp Press) L'Art presque perdu de ne rien faire, 2011 (Boréal) Journal d'un écrivain en pyjama, 2013 (Montréal: Mémoire d'encrier) Tout ce qu'on ne te dira pas, Mongo, 2015 (Montréal: Mémoire d'encrier) Further reading Beniamin Vasile, Dany Laferrière: l'autodidacte et le processus de création, Paris: l'Harmattan, collection "Critiques Littéraires", 2008