Louis-Philippe Dalembert
Encyclopedia
Louis-Philippe Dalembert (born December 8, 1962 in Port-au-Prince
, Haiti
) is a Haitian poet and novelist. He writes in both French and Haitian creole. His works have been translated into several languages. He now divides his home between Berlin
, Paris
and Port-au-Prince
.
on December 8, 1962. His father’s death, a few months later, drastically affected the economic situation of the family. As a result, he spent his early childhood in the populous neighbourhood of Bel-Air, in a feminine universe. With his mother needing to travel away during the week to teach in the countryside, he grew up surrounded by his mother’s cousins, his elder sister, his great-aunts and his maternal grandmother who controlled her family with the stick, in a Port-au-Prince
that was run by the iron fisted François Duvalier
, “Papa Doc”. At the age of six, he experienced the first great break of his life: his family moved away from that neighbourhood. He drew on these formative very religious years lived under the sign of the sabbath to compose his novel Le crayon du bon Dieu n’a pas de gomme.
Port-au-Prince
during the 1960s and 70's, was also all about outdoor cinemas, and in particular drive-ins. One of these happened to be located right behind the new house, over the ravine. In the evening, the entire neighbourhood would meet on the empty lot and watch the film. Dalembert saw westerns, about which he is still mad, the first kung-fu films, and The Last Tango in Paris. The problem was that they couldn’t hear anything. They had to imagine the dialogue on their own, when of course someone didn’t play to the crowd with his own improvisations. Telling from this time forth became for him above all else making one see.
Trained in literature and journalism, Dalembert worked first as a journalist in his homeland before leaving in 1986 for France
where he obtained his PhD in comparative literature at the Sorbonne
with a dissertation on the Cuban author, Alejo Carpentier
. Since leaving Haiti
, this polyglot vagabond (he juggles seven languages) has lived in Nancy, Paris
, Rome
, Jerusalem, Brazzaville
, Kinshasa
, Florence
, and has traveled wherever his steps have taken him ... in the renewed echo of his native land.
His work carries the trace of his vagabonding [roaming] (a concept he prefers to that of errance [free-wheeling]) in its permanent tension between two periods (a childhood from which he continues to view the world, and adulthood) and two or more spaces. His works have been translated into several languages including Spanish, Italian, German, Danish, English and serbo-croate.
Today Dalembert lives in-between Berlin
, Paris
and Port-au-Prince
.
In Haitian creole:
Essay
Poetry
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
) is a Haitian poet and novelist. He writes in both French and Haitian creole. His works have been translated into several languages. He now divides his home between Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
.
Life
The son of a school teacher and principal, Louis-Philippe Dalembert was born in Port-au-PrincePort-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
on December 8, 1962. His father’s death, a few months later, drastically affected the economic situation of the family. As a result, he spent his early childhood in the populous neighbourhood of Bel-Air, in a feminine universe. With his mother needing to travel away during the week to teach in the countryside, he grew up surrounded by his mother’s cousins, his elder sister, his great-aunts and his maternal grandmother who controlled her family with the stick, in a Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
that was run by the iron fisted François Duvalier
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
, “Papa Doc”. At the age of six, he experienced the first great break of his life: his family moved away from that neighbourhood. He drew on these formative very religious years lived under the sign of the sabbath to compose his novel Le crayon du bon Dieu n’a pas de gomme.
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
during the 1960s and 70's, was also all about outdoor cinemas, and in particular drive-ins. One of these happened to be located right behind the new house, over the ravine. In the evening, the entire neighbourhood would meet on the empty lot and watch the film. Dalembert saw westerns, about which he is still mad, the first kung-fu films, and The Last Tango in Paris. The problem was that they couldn’t hear anything. They had to imagine the dialogue on their own, when of course someone didn’t play to the crowd with his own improvisations. Telling from this time forth became for him above all else making one see.
Trained in literature and journalism, Dalembert worked first as a journalist in his homeland before leaving in 1986 for France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
where he obtained his PhD in comparative literature at the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
with a dissertation on the Cuban author, Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier
Alejo Carpentier y Valmont was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Carpentier grew up in Havana, Cuba; and despite his European birthplace, Carpentier strongly self-identified...
. Since leaving Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, this polyglot vagabond (he juggles seven languages) has lived in Nancy, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Jerusalem, Brazzaville
Brazzaville
-Transport:The city is home to Maya-Maya Airport and a railway station on the Congo-Ocean Railway. It is also an important river port, with ferries sailing to Kinshasa and to Bangui via Impfondo...
, Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, and has traveled wherever his steps have taken him ... in the renewed echo of his native land.
His work carries the trace of his vagabonding [roaming] (a concept he prefers to that of errance [free-wheeling]) in its permanent tension between two periods (a childhood from which he continues to view the world, and adulthood) and two or more spaces. His works have been translated into several languages including Spanish, Italian, German, Danish, English and serbo-croate.
Today Dalembert lives in-between Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
.
Works
Novels and short stories- Le Songe d’une photo d’enfance, short stories. Paris: Le Serpent à Plumes, 1993 ; Paris: Le Serpent à Plumes, 2005.
- Le crayon du bon Dieu n’a pas de gomme. Paris: Stock, 1996 ; Paris: Le Serpent à Plumes, 2004. Port-au-Prince: Editions des Presses Nationales, 2006.
- L’Autre Face de la mer. Paris: Stock, 1998 ; Paris : Le Serpent à Plumes, 2005. Port-au-Prince: Editions des Presses Nationales, 2007.
- L’Ile du bout des rêves. Paris: Bibliophane/Daniel Radford, 2003. Paris : Le Serpent à Plumes, 2007.
- Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis. Monaco: Editions du Rocher, 2005.
- Les dieux voyagent la nuit. Monaco: Editions du Rocher, 2006.
- Histoires d'amour impossibles... ou presque, short stories. Monaco: Éditions du Rocher, 2007.
In Haitian creole:
- Epi oun jou konsa tèt Pastè Bab pati, novel. Port-au-Prince: Editions des Presses Nationales, 2007.
Essay
- Le Roman de Cuba, Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 2009.
- Haïti, une traversée littéraire, en collaboration avec Lyonel Trouillot, Éditions Philippe Rey/Culturesfrance, Paris, 2010.
Poetry
- Evangile pour les miens. Port-au-Prince: Choucoune, 1982.
- Et le soleil se souvient (followed by) Pages cendres et palmes d’aube. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1989.
- Du temps et d'autres nostalgies. Les Cahiers de la Villa Medicis 9.1 (1995): 24-38.
- Ces îles de plein sel. Vwa (La Chaux-de-fonds) 24 (1996): 151-171.
- Ces îles de plein sel et autres poèmes. Ivry-sur-Seine: silex/Nouvelles du Sud, 2000.
- Dieci poesie (Errance). Quaderni di via Montereale (Pordenone) 4 (2000).
- Poème pour accompagner l’absence. Montréal: Mémoire d’encrier, 2005.
- Transhumances. Paris: Riveneuve éditions, 2010.
Prizes and Awards
- Grand Prix de poésie de la Ville d’Angers for the collection of poems Et le soleil se souvient: 1987.
- Resident at the Villa Médicis, Rome: 1994-95.
- Unesco/Aschberg Grant. Writer in residence at Mishkenot Sha’anamin, Jerusalem: 1997.
- Poncetton Grant, Société des Gens de Lettres, for L’Autre Face de la mer: 1998.
- Prix RFO du livre, for his novel L’Autre Face de la mer: 1999.
- CNL (Centre national du livre) Creation Grant for Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis: 2003.
- French Institute of Tunisia Grant. Writer in residence in Tunis: 2006.
- Casa de las Américas Prize for his novel Les dieux voyagent la nuit: Cuba, 2008.
- DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program guest : Berlin, 2010.
- Prix spécial "Ville de Limoges" for his novel Noires Blessures, Limoges, 2011.