“A prolific novelist, poet, painter and sedative, he was inspired by his country’s mixed chaos and published his first novel, completely written in Creole, Haiti.” Randal C. Archibold (New York Times, February 26, 2025) presents a beautiful obituary about Haitian artist and writer Franquetienne (1936-2025). Here is an excerpt. Please read the entire article New York Times.
A Haitian artist and writer known as Franquetienne, who published his first novel fully written in Haitian Creole, and as the nation’s first literary lion, he refracted its confusion and obstacles through art, died on Thursday at his home in the country’s capital, Porto Prince. He was 88 years old. The Haitian Ministry of Culture has announced the death. The cause is not specified.
“Through his writings, he illuminated the world, carried the soul of Haitians, and denied silence,” Prime Minister Alix Didier Phils Aimé said in a statement.
Franketienne was a prolific novelist, poet and painter. Often, all three were one piece, and the art embraced and interpreted the chaos of the small, turbulent country he came to.
“I’m not afraid of chaos because chaos is the uterus of light and life,” he said in 2011. Interview and New York Times It is located in his rambling gallery and home, in the working-class district of Port-au-Prince. “What I don’t like is the unmanagement of confusion. The reason why Haiti seems more confusing is because of its unmanagement.”
Though not well known in the English-speaking world, Franketienne is a larger-than-life figure in Haiti and was celebrated in French-Creole-speaking literature and diaspora circles around the world. He won awards for art and letters in France, and his vibrant, unpredictable appearance drew a crowd.
His production is diverse and extensive, with poetry often layered, including around 50 written works in French and Haitian Creoles, as well as thousands of paintings and sketches characterized by black, blue and red spirals.
He wrote the novel “Dézafi,” published in 1975 and translated as “Cockfight.” It is an experimental work of loops that weaves elements of poetry and magical realism. The plot involving voodoo priests set up by those they placed in death-like states has come to be seen as an all-talk of slavery and political oppression.
The novel was also a classic example of spiralism, founded in the 1960s with writers Rene Firocto and Jean-Claude Fignoret. [. . .]
Certainly, conversations with Franketienne were able to fly fantasize.
Yale’s African-American Research Professor Kaiama L. Glover recalls easing his argument with him in 2009 when he translated his work, during which he jumped up to his feet, tearing his shirt to reveal the beads of prayer, and singing voodoo prayers to make the point.
“He was simply plagued, hoping for spirits and calling for an answer to the meaning of writing in French and Creole,” Professor Glover said in an interview. [. . .]
Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticatt, who appeared with Franquetienne at conferences in Haiti and Miami and brought her to watch his play when his parents were in Brooklyn, said his death would leave a big gap.
“But as I’m sure he’ll say, the Spiral continues through generations, and in part he helps develop, which continues after him,” she said in an interview. “His novels and plays broadened our vocabulary and expanded our ways of expressing love, passion, humor and anger,” she said. “His love for Haiti was so deep that I had to invent the word to express it from time to time.” [. . .]
[Photos above by Allison Shelley for The New York Times.]
For the complete article, please refer to https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/world/americas/franketienne-dead.html
