World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

René Depestre

レネ・デペストル

Rene Depestre

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1926-08-29 （Jacmel, Haiti）
Nationality
Haiti, France
Languages
French, Haitian Creole
Residence History
Haiti (Jacmel, Port-au-Prince) → France (Paris) → Cuba (Havana) → Czech Republic (Prague) → Periods in Chile, Argentina and Brazil → Southern France (Aude, Lézignan-Corbières)

Career

Occupations
poet, writer, essayist, cultural administrator, author
Active Years
1945-
Affiliations
Casa de las Américas (founding involvement), UNESCO (secretariat staff; special envoy for Haiti), Radio Havana Cuba (involvement), Cuban cultural institutions (National Council of Culture, etc.)
Memberships
Various literary and cultural organizations
Influenced By
Alejo Carpentier (marvelous realism), Surrealist poets (e.g., André Breton), Négritude movement (e.g., Aimé Césaire), Nicolás Guillén
Influenced
Younger Haitian and Francophone writers, Henri Lopes

Education

Sorbonne (University of Paris)
Letters and Political Science
Period: 1946–1950
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: France
Studied letters and political science; while in Paris he associated with Surrealists and figures of the négritude movement.

Awards

Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle
1982
Work: Alléluia pour une femme-jardin
Organization: Académie Goncourt
Result: 受賞
Prix Renaudot
1988
Work: Hadriana in All My Dreams
Organization: Prix Renaudot
Result: 受賞
Tchicaya U Tam'si Prize for African Poetry
1991
Organization: Tchicaya U Tam'si Prize
Result: 受賞
Prix Guillaume Apollinaire
1993
Work: Anthologie personnelle
Organization: Prix Guillaume Apollinaire
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1995
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 奨学金（受給）
Grand Prix de Poésie
1998
Result: 受賞
Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe et du Tout-Monde
1998
Organization: Prix Carbet
Result: 受賞
Grand prix de littérature de la SGDL
2016
Organization: Société des Gens de Lettres
Result: 受賞
Other regional awards for Hadriana
1988
Work: Hadriana in All My Dreams
Result: 複数受賞（地域賞）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Etincelles (Sparks)

1945 poetry collection

Depestre's first poetry collection, showing the early political and imaginative sensibilities of the poet.

identityethnicitypolitical resistance
Translations

Un arc-en-ciel pour l'Occident chrétien (Rainbow for the Christian Occident)

1966 poetry (long poem/sequence)

A representative poetic work blending politics, eroticism and Vodou; reflects experiences from his time in Cuba and broad worldviews.

Vodoupoliticseroticismdecolonization

Le Mât de cocagne

1979 novel

A novel published after his return to Paris, intertwining Depestre's literary exploration with political memory.

memorypoliticscultural métissage
Adaptations
  • [theatre (adaptation)] Mat de Cocagne (theatrical adaptation) (1995)

Alléluia pour une femme-jardin

1981 short stories / novel

Work that received the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle in 1982; contains stories and novellas.

female figureseroticismfantasy

Hadriana in All My Dreams

1988 novel

A major novel set in Jacmel; incorporates local traditions, Vodou, love and death with elements of magical realism.

Vodoulocal traditionlove and deathmagical realism
Translations
  • English translation: Hadriana in All My Dreams

Bibliography

  • Etincelles (1945)
  • Gerbes de Sang (1946)
  • Végétations de Clarté (1951)
  • Traduit du Grand Large (1952)
  • Minerai noir (1956)
  • Un arc-en-ciel pour l'Occident chrétien (1966)
  • Journal d'un animal marin (1967)
  • Le Mât de cocagne (1979)
  • Alléluia pour une femme-jardin (1981)
  • Hadriana in All My Dreams (1988)
  • Anthologie personnelle (1993)
  • Le Métier à métisser (1998)
  • Ainsi parle le fleuve noir (1998)
  • Rage de vivre. Complete poetic works (2007)

Adaptations

  • Documentary 'Haiti in All Our Dreams' (1996, dir. Jean-Daniel Lafond)

Translations of Works

  • Hadriana dans Tous mes Rêves → Hadriana in All My Dreams (English translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
poetic prose and verse with elements of magical realismmix of political/revolutionary themes and eroticismmultilingual and creole-influenced expression
Recurring Motifs
Vodou and folk traditiondecolonization and revolutionsea and homeland (Jacmel)métissage (cultural mixing)

Legacy

René Depestre is one of the leading Haitian poets and writers, known for blending Surrealism, négritude critique, Vodou and political commitment. He has received numerous international awards and has had a significant influence on Haitian and Francophone literature.

Museums

  • René Depestre old school (Jacmel, restored) Jacmel, Haiti Opened in 2011

Academic Societies

  • Société des Gens de Lettres (association)

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary film 'Haiti in All Our Dreams' by Jean-Daniel Lafond (1996)
  • 'Hadriana' has been translated, studied academically, and adapted for stage

Quotes

  • Far from seeing himself as an exile, he prefers to be described as a nomad with multiple roots, a 'banyan' man.
    Source: Le Métier à métisser (excerpt) (1998)

Trivia

  • He is the uncle of Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada (2005–2010).
  • Obtained French citizenship in 1991.
  • Was involved in the founding of Casa de las Américas during his time in Cuba.
  • Deeply involved in political activity and cultural administration from the 1960s onward.