Lyonel Trouillot (born 31 December 1956, in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

) is a

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

in French and

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...

, a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and a professor of French and Creole literature in Port-au-Prince.

Early life

Lyonel Trouillot was born into a family of lawyers. He has a brother, Michel-Rolph Trouillot (anthropologist and historian), and his two sisters are he writer

Évelyne Trouillot Évelyne Trouillot (born January 2, 1954) is a Haitian author, writing in French and Creole. Biography Évelyne Trouillot was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 2, 1954. She was the daughter of Ernst Trouillot and Anne-Marie Morisset. After c ...

and the writer and educator

Jocelyne Trouillot Marie-Jocelyne Trouillot (born April 21 1948) is a Haitian writer and educator. Biography Marie-Jocelyne Trouillot was born in Port-au-Prince, April 21 1948. She is the daughter of Ernst Trouillot and Anne Marie Morisset. Her siblings are the wri ...

. Following his parents' divorce in the late 1960s, he went to the United States with his mother. He returned to Haiti at age 19, in 1975. Between 1980 and 1982, political repression forced Trouillot to emigrate to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Career

Trouillot initially studied law, but his passion for literature pushed him towards a career as a writer. At the start of his career, Trouillot contributed to several different newspapers and magazines in Haiti, publishing poetry and writing song lyrics for musical artists such as Tambou Libète, Toto Bissainthe, Jean Coulanges, and Manno Charlemagne. Trouillot began publishing his work in

. His first novel ''Les fous de Saint-Antoine'' was published in 1989 by Editions Deschamps, prefaced by his mentor, René Philoctète. His second book, ''Le Livre de Marie'', was published in 1993 by Editions Mémoire, and his third novel, ''Rue des pas-perdus'', was published in 1998 by

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

in Paris. In 2000, ''Thèrese en mille morceaux'', published by Actes Sud, made him known worldwide. Trouillot's poetic writing, close to spiralism (a Haitian literary genre stemming from the Duvalier regimes) attracted readers and publishers alike. His exceptional talent and the depth of his writing place him among some of the greatest Francophone authors. His novel ''La Belle Amour humaine'' earned him a place among the four finalists for the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

in 2011 – ultimately won that year by Alexis Jenni for '' L'Art français de la guerre''. In 2013, he paid homage to Haitian comedian Karl Marcel Casséus in ''Parabole du failli''. In addition to writing, Trouillot has taken on many other projects throughout his career. Along with his sister

and her daughter Nadève Ménard, he founded a writer's organisation named Pré-Texte. In 2014 he wrote, with

Raoul Peck Raoul Peck (born 9 September 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian filmmaker of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical e ...

and

Pascal Bonitzer Pascal Bonitzer (; born 1 February 1946) is a French screenwriter, film director, actor, and former film critic for '' Cahiers du cinéma''. He has written for 48 films and has appeared in 30 films since 1967. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1978 fi ...

, the script for Peck's feature film '' Murder in Pacot''. Trouillot is also a co-editor of the journal ''Cahiers du Vendredi'', as well as cofounder and director of ''Atelier Jeudi Soir''.

Politics

Trouillot is known for his political stances, and for his resistance to the Haitian Duvalierist dictatorship. He was also part of the ''Collective Non'' of intellectuals and artists that helped to build momentum for the U.S. and paramilitary-backed ouster of the democratically elected president

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

. He was a member of the unelected transitional government following the departure of Aristide, as a cabinet minister of culture. The unelected transitional government of

Gerard Latortue Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this cas ...

(that Trouillot was a member of between 2004 and 2006) was shown to be involved in massive human rights violations and to work closely with the "families" of the local elite groups within the country while being heavily funded by the US Bush administration: http://www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf As an activist for democracy and justice in his country, his works often give voice to the voiceless, as seen in his 2004 novel ''Bicentenaire''. In 2016, during an interview in ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' for the publication of his novel ''Kannjawou'', Lyonel Trouillot dencounced the dominance of

Evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

denominations in Haiti. Trouillot is also a founding member of the Rasanbleman pou Diyite Ayiti (RADI), which denounces many acts of violence and inequality in the country.

Select bibliography

Novels

* ''Les Fous de Saint-Antoine: traversée rythmique''. (prefaced par René Philoctète) Port-au-Prince: Editions Deschamps, 1989; Pétion-Ville: C3 Éditions, 2013 * ''Le Livre de Marie''. Port-au-Prince: Editions Mémoire,1993. * ''Rue des pas perdus'', Arles, Actes Sud, 1998, d. Mémoire Port-au-Prince, 1996* ''Thérèse en mille morceaux'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2000 * ''Les Enfants des héros'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2002 * ''Bicentenaire'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2004 * ''L'Amour avant que j'oublie'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2007 * ''Yanvalou pour Charlie'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2009 ** dt. ''Yanvalou für Charlie'', 2016, Traduction Barbara Heber-Schärer, Claudia Steinitz, Liebeskind Verlagsbuchhandlung, * ''La Belle Amour humaine'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2011 * ''Le Doux Parfum des temps à venir'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2013 * ''Parabole du failli'', Actes Sud, Arles, 2013 * ''Kannjawou'', Arles, Actes Sud, 2016 * ''Ne m’appelle pas Capitaine'', Arles, Actes Sud, 2018 * ''Antoine des Gommiers'', Arles, Actes Sud, 2021 * ''Veilleuse du Calvaire'', Arles, Actes Sud, 2023

Poetry

* ''Depale'', Editions des Ecrivains Haitiens, 1979 (with Pierre Richard Narcisse). * ''Éloge de la contemplation'', Riveneuve, Paris, 2009. * ''Le doux parfum des temps à venir'', Acte-Sud, 2013. * ''C'est avec mains qu'on fait chansons'', Le Temps des Cerises, 2015.

Non-fiction

* ''Haïti le dur devoir d'exister'', with

Amélie Baron ''Amélie'' (, , ) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story ...

, Mémoire d'Encrier, Montréal, 2010. * ''Objectif : l'autre'', with André Versaille,

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, 2012. * ''Dictionnaire de la rature'', with Geneviève de Maupeou and Alain Sancerni, Actes Sud, 2014

Awards and recognition

Trouillot was made a

Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in 2010. In 2011, he was awarded the Prix Wepler for his novel ''Yanvalou pour Charlie''. For ''La Belle Amour humane'', he was awarded the

Grand Prix du Roman Métis The Grand prix du roman métis is a French literary award established in 2010 by the city of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion. It rewards a French-language novel published less than a year ago and which emphasizes the values of multiracialism, multicult ...

(2011), the Geneva Book Fair Literary Prize (2012), and the Gitanjali Literary Prize (2012). In 2013, he was awarded the Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde for his work, ''Parabole du failli''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trouillot, Lyonel 1956 births Living people Haitian male novelists Haitian male poets Haitian writers in French Haitian Creole-language writers International Writing Program alumni 20th-century Haitian novelists 20th-century Haitian poets 21st-century Haitian novelists 21st-century Haitian poets 20th-century Haitian male writers 21st-century male writers Lyonel