Dany Laferrière returns to Haiti for a literary tour and meets with university students

NEW YORK-Haitian author and Académie française member Dany Laferrière returned to Haiti this week for a series of public appearances, including a discussion with students and professors at the State University of Haiti, where he reflected on literature, memory and the craft of writing.

The event, organized at the invitation of the State University of Haiti, brought together students, faculty members and university officials for a conversation on Haitian literature, creative expression and the role of writers in preserving the country’s cultural memory.

Laferrière urged students at the State University of Haiti to write with honesty, trust their own voice and draw inspiration from everyday life during his first official visit hosted by the country’s largest public university.

The author will continue a series of public appearances during his first return to Haiti since 2019. He said he was especially moved because it was the first time the state university officially invited him.

During the discussion, he reflected on how childhood memories shaped his book L’Odeur du café, explaining that simple observations often produce the strongest writing.

“I spent my childhood in Petit-Goâve,” he recalled, saying the sentence taught him an essential lesson: begin with simplicity.

The university discussion was part of a broader visit to Haiti that has included appearances before students and young readers. Earlier this week, Laferrière also met with dozens of young people at the National Book Directorate, where he reflected on his return to Haiti after several years away and discussed his recent work as a painter and illustrator.

For university officials, the visit represented more than an opportunity to honor one of Haiti’s best-known writers.

“The State University of Haiti cannot be limited to academic training alone,” Rector Dieuseul Prédélus said in opening remarks. “It is also the guardian of the memory and imagination of the Haitian people.”

The visit marks Laferrière’s first public literary tour in Haiti since 2019, reconnecting one of the country’s most celebrated contemporary writers with a new generation of Haitian readers and aspiring authors.

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