Synopses & Reviews
"Haiti's most important writer."The New York Times
"His work can speak to the most intellectual person in the society as well as the most humble. It's a very generous kind of genius he has, one I can't imagine Haitian literature ever existing without."Edwidge Danticat
Should he scream? Call for help? His mouth was full of saliva. His tongue heavy
The breath and spit of his pursuers were burning his head. The awful stench of their breath, a stinging vapor, was scorching his ears, drying his skin. Smell of sulphur. The acid of their bite. Their forked claws were already lacerating his back.
If only I had the time to make it to St. Joseph's Gate where I might find some people. Some help. O agile foot of my rebellious youth! Haven't I always given you the choice morsel of whatever I've eaten? Haven't I given you the longest sip of whatever I've drunk? Run faster nimble foot of the songs of yesteryear! If ill should come to me, I will blame you
My mother will suffer
If I die
And what about my Solange, my sweetheart? Will I never see her again?
A portrait of "the extreme bitterness of doom in the face of the blind machinery of power." In vivid, fluid prose, Ripe to Burst follows the lives of two young men and their individual attempts to make sense of the deeply troubled society surrounding them. A biting critique of the "brain drain" prompted by the François Duvalier dictatorship, Frankétienne mirrors the spirit and failings of the 1960s generation.
Widely recognized as Haiti's most important literary figure, Frankétienne has written more than thirty plays, poetry collections, and works of fiction, including Dezafi, the first modern novel written entirely in Haitian Creole.
Synopsis
Never before translated into English: a novel from "Haiti's most important writer" and "the Father of Haitian letters" (NYT).
Synopsis
• Author Bio: Born in 1936 in Ravine-Sèche, Haiti, Frankétienne is a prolific novelist, painter, playwright, musician and poet. Widely recognized as Haiti's most important literary figure and an outspoken challenger of political oppression, Frankétienne was a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009.
The New York Times has called Frankétienne "the Father of Haitian Letters." He has a unique style, often blending French and Haitian Creole and inventing new words.
• Translator: Kaiama L. Glover received a B.A. in French History and Literature and Afro-American Studies from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in French and Romance Philology from Columbia University. She is now an associate professor of French at Barnard College. Professor Glover's book, Haiti Unbound: A Spiralist Challenge to the Postcolonial Canon (Liverpool UP 2010), addresses the general issue of canon formation in the francophone Caribbean and the particular fate of the Haitian Spiralist authors vis-à-vis this canon.
About the Author
FRANKÉTIENNE was born in 1936, in Ravine-Sèche, Haiti. Raised and educated there, he then went on to found a school for the other children in his hometown. Widely recognized as Haiti's most important literary figure, and a co-founder of the literary movement spiralisme, Frankétienne has written more than 30 plays, poetry collections, and works of prose fiction, including Dezafi, the first modern novel written entirely in Haitian Creole. He is also a renowned painter, with his art displayed in museums all over the world. Frankétienne was named a 2010 UNESCO Artist for Peace; won the 2005 Grand Prix d'Ouessant Island Book; won the 2006 Latin Union Prize for Literature and Romance; was a 2006 winner of the Netherlands Foundation Prince Claus; was made a Commander of the Arts and Letters in 2010; and was a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009. The New York Times has called Frankétienne "the Father of Haitian Letters."
ANDRÉ NAFFIS-SAHELY was born in 1985, in Venice, Italy, of Italian and Iranian parentage. He was raised in Abu Dhabi and later educated in Britain. He has written on literature, film and the visual arts for The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, The Economist, PN Review and Banipal and is the UK contributor for Words Without Borders. Aside from publishing poetry and fables, he also translates from the French; forthcoming titles include The Rule of Barbarism (Pirogue Poets Series) and The Bottom of the Jar (Archipelago Books), by Abdellatif Laâbi; The Barbary Figs and The Funerals by Rachid Boudjedra (Arabia Books), as well as Frankétienne's Mûr à crever (Archipelago Books). He is currently co-editing a collection of tributes for the poet Michael Hofmann, the subject of his doctoral thesis, which will be published as The Yellow of Unlove (CB Editions). He lives in London.