Reading by Yanick Lahens
Table of contents

Plakat zur Lesung "Sanfte Debakel" von Yanick Lahens (Haiti) am 7. Oktober 2021.
This spring, Litradukt published the latest novel "Soft Debacles" (Douces déroutes) by Yanick Lahens, one of Haiti's most important and best-known contemporary authors.
About the book
Port-au-Prince is the city of "soft debacles", smoothly orchestrated by those who profit from them. Those who stand in their way risk their lives. Like Raymond Berhier, a judge who "wanted to know too much". Six months later, his daughter Brune tries to come to terms with her father's death through music, while her uncle Pierre uses his connections to gain insight into the investigation. Brune and Pierre are surrounded by Ézéchiel, a revolutionary street fighter and poet, Waner, an adept of non-violence, Cyprien, an ambitious young lawyer, and the French journalist Francis, who is in Haiti for a report. As the connections gradually emerge, each person reveals their innermost feelings.
The "polyphonic song of fear, grief and longing" (Thekla Dannenberg, perlentaucher.de) reads like an anticipation of recent events. "Yanick Lahens skillfully sums up the dazzling ambivalence of her homeland and the helpless view from the outside in literary terms", judges Cornelius Wüllenkemper in Deutschlandfunk
1st place on the Litprom best list World Reception Summer 2021
About the author
Yanick Lahens, born in Port-au-Prince in 1953, became interested in Haiti's traditional culture at an early age. After studying literature at the Sorbonne, she taught at the Ecole normale supérieure in Port-au-Prince and championed the Creole language in education. Her best-known literary works include Dance of the Ancestors (Dans la maison du père), Dawn (La couleur de l'aube) and Bain de lune. She received the prestigious Prix Fémina for the latter work. In 2018-2019, Yanick Lahens held the Mondes francophones chair at the Collège de France.
An event in German and French in cooperation with the Institute français Dresden, the publisher Litradukt and arche noVa - Initiative für Menschen in Not e.V.
Time: October 7, 2021, 19:00-20:30
Place: Institute français Dresden, Kreuzstraße 6, 01067 Dresden
Moderation: Torsten König
German voice: Barbara Bellini
Admission: FREE
Pre-registration required at: cff_dresden[at]mailbox.tu-dresden.de
Please note the current announcements on our homepage as well as the general regulations regarding the Covid-19 pandemic.
Access to the Institute only according to the 3 G rules (vaccinated, tested, recovered).
Photo impressions

Yanick Lahens bei ihrer Lesung am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens, Christophe Steyer, Dr. Barbara Bellini.

Dr. Torsten König bei der Moderation der Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens, Dr. Barbara Bellini.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Yanick Lahens, Dr. Barbara Bellini.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens, Dr. Barbara Bellini, Christophe Steyer.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens, Mathias Anderson (arche noVa).

Yanick Lahens bei ihrer Lesung am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden.

Yanick Lahens bei ihrer Lesung am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden - Blick auf Publikum und Podium.

Lesung Yanick Lahens am 7. Oktober 2021 im Institut français Dresden, v.l.n.r. Dr. Torsten König, Yanick Lahens, Dr. Barbara Bellini.