In Haiti, knowledge is in peril. Le Nouvelliste, the country’s oldest newspaper, and Le Moniteur, the oldest publication, have both been attacked. The libraries of the Brothers of the Holy Spirit, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, and the National Library have been rendered inoperable by gang attacks.
The State University of Haiti and several private training centers have been attacked, looted, and burned. Faced with this threat to knowledge and collective memory, Livres en folie has chosen, for its thirtieth edition, to highlight the authors who have marked Haitian thought since Independence.
This year, Livres en folie pays tribute to writers, living or deceased, who have enriched Haitian culture with their novels, poems, essays, and other literary works. The list, which includes 165 authors from all generations and backgrounds, aims to recall the importance of reading and the preservation of ideas.
From former presidents to literary thinkers, these authors, writing in French, Creole, English or Spanish, explore varied themes ranging from crime to cuisine, from humor to history. Livres en folie calls for collective action to publish, reissue, and especially read these works, in order to nourish and strengthen the Haitian library and collective thought.
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