Reading Yanick Lahens “Gentle Debacle” October 7, 2021

1. 1. 1. About the Book
    2. About the Author

Poster on the occasion of the reading “Sanfte Debakel” (Gentle Debacle) – Reading & discussion with Yanick Lahens (Haiti) on October 7, 2021, at the Institut français Dresden. — Plakat zur Lesung "Sanfte Debakel" von Yanick Lahens (Haiti) am 7. Oktober 2021.

This past spring, Litradukt published the latest novel,“Sanfte Debakel”(Douces déroutes), by Yanick Lahens, one of Haiti’s most important and well-known contemporary authors.

About the Book

Port-au-Prince is the city of “gentle debacles,” smoothly orchestrated by those who profit from them. Anyone who stands in their way risks their life. 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 pulls strings to gain insight into the investigation. Surrounding Brune and Pierre are Ézéchiel, a revolutionary street fighter and poet; Waner, an advocate of nonviolence; Cyprien, an ambitious young lawyer; and Francis, a French journalist staying in Haiti to work on a report. As the connections gradually come to light, each character reveals their innermost thoughts.

This “polyphonic chorus of fear, grief, and longing” (Thekla Dannenberg, perlentaucher.de) reads like a foreshadowing of recent events. “Yanick Lahens masterfully captures the dazzling ambivalence of her homeland and the bewildered outsider’s perspective,” wrote Cornelius Wüllenkemper on Deutschlandfunk

No. 1 on the Litprom “Weltempfänger” Summer 2021 Best-of List

About the Author

Yanick Lahens, born in 1953 in Port-au-Prince, developed an interest in Haiti’s traditional culture at an early age. After studying literature at the Sorbonne, she taught at the École normale supérieure in Port-au-Prince and advocated for the use of the Creole language in the education system. 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. From 2018 to 2019, Yanick Lahens held the Mondes francophones chair at the Collège de France.

WHEN? October 7, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
WHERE? Institute français Dresden, Kreuzstraße 6, 01067 Dresden

Moderator: Torsten König

German voice: Barbara Bellini

Admission: FREE

Advance registration was required at: cff_dresden[at]mailbox.tu-dresden.de

Please check the latest updates on our website and follow the general guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access to the Institute is permitted only in accordance with the 3G rules (vaccinated, tested, recovered).

Photo Gallery: Reading by Yanick Lahens, October 7, 2021