Dany Laferrière

Early Career

Dany Laferrière grew up with his grandmother in Petit-Goâve, Haïti. As the son of an opponent to François Duvalier's dictatorial regime, Dany Laferrière was sent there to protect him from possible political reprisals.

When he was young, he dedicated most of his free time to reading and writing. He attributes his development as an individual to his readings. As a young adult, he already considered himself an accomplished person thanks to literature.

He had a strong attachment to certain writers, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Charles Bukowski, and especially Jorge Luis Borges ― his favourite writer.

From 18 to 23 years old, he was a cinema and literary critic. He was also a radio journalist for Radio Haiti-Inter and a columnist for the daily paper Le Nouvelliste and the weekly magazine Le Petit Samedi Soir.

In the summer of 1976, he hastily left Haiti for Montreal. He went into exile because of the Duvalier regime, following the murder of a colleague and journalist friend by the private militia known as Tonton Macoutes. Moreover, his father, the ex-mayor of Port-au-Prince, was himself a political dissident in exile, and Dany Laferrière was afraid of being the next target.

In Montreal, Dany Laferrière worked in precarious jobs, sometimes as an illegal worker, but he aspired to become a writer. He ate little in order to buy a typewriter - his legendary Remington 22 - and second-hand books.

In 1985, he published his first book, entitled Comment faire l’amour à un nègre (later translated to How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired). This semi-biographical work became a great literary success. Four years later, Jacques W. Benoît adapted the book for film, and thus, Dany Laferrière became a screenwriter.

From 1989 to 1991, he was a cultural columnist on television for Radio-Canada, and then at La Presse from 2002 to 2008.

Between 1990 and 2000, Dany Laferrière divided his time between Miami, Florida, and Quebec.

Career Highlights

Dany Laferrière's colossal body of work is peppered with autobiography; he says he writes how he lives. He is the author of several books, including young adult novels. Three of his works were adapted to film.

He is mainly known for his novels, although he is prolific in several literary genres. The fact that he rewrites his old novels fascinates literary critics and academics.

Throughout his career, the media has invited Dany Laferrière to be a cultural and political commentator. He also gives talks, performances and writes academic articles.

Did You Know?
Dany Laferrière is a self-recognized eccentric. He has a habit of reading and writing in the bathtub. He is also passionate about the Hula Hoop. He has gone as far as to write a tribute to this sport with a poem, giving lecture-performances while twirling a Hula Hoop. He has also led classes to accompany the exposition, Un Cœur Nomade, which recounts his life as an artist. He says that the Hula Hoop is the sport of writers.

However, his writings did not escape censorship. During an interview, he criticized the mainstream media for censoring the N-word in his titles. This was especially the case with his novel How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired. He believes it’s necessary to confront racist attitudes through the word. (See Anti-Black Racism in Canada.)

At the turn of the second millennium, he gave up his Remington 22 for a computer. In 2018, he published Autoportrait de Paris Avec Chat, where he began his practice of mixing child-like drawings with handwritten text.

Literary Distinctiveness

Dany Laferrière's style is characterized by his ability to treat tragic subjects with humour. His pen is considered a deadly weapon by critics. He is not afraid of provocation, controversy, or disrupting societal etiquette and its taboos. He likes to push the limits of language. Critics consider his prose to be poetic.

His writing engine runs on what he calls pleasure, and he has said that he will go so far as to dance around his chair at a well-written sentence. The music of words occupies an important place in his aesthetic.

Certain themes are near and dear to him, such as love, friendship, childhood, time, death, solitude and the universal character of literature.

He has had enormous success on an international scale with his works, which have been translated into about fifteen languages. Each new work that he publishes is followed by a big media tour.

Académie Française

On 12 December 2013, he was elected to Seat 2 on the Académie Française ― the one previously held by Hector Bianciotti. This decision was made in recognition of his literary work and his commitment to the French language. On 28 May 2015, he was welcomed by writer Amin Maalouf.

In principle, a person who is not a French citizen and does not reside in France is not, by tradition, considered eligible for a seat at the Académie Française. However, there were no conditions concerning the nationality of candidates in the Académie's statutes. When Dany Laferrière ascended to the rank of Immortal, the name given to those elected academicians, it was also decided that the Académie Française is the academy of the French language and not of the French nation.

At the Académie, he is a member of the Commission du Dictionnaire. It is made up of ten members who review the definitions of words on a weekly basis. They debate the evolution of the language and recognized uses of particular words by certain authors who have had a significant cultural impact.

Awards and Distinctions

Dany Laferrière has received numerous prizes and distinctions worldwide. Here are some of the most prominent:

In 2010, Dany Laferrière was awarded the Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix. In 2014, he received the International Literature Award by the House of World Cultures for the German translation of his novel The Return. In the same year, the Office Québécois de la Langue Française awarded him the Prix du Mérite du Français dans la Culture. In 2015, the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Montreal awarded him the Ludger-Duvernay Grand Prize. In 2019, he received the Grand Prix des Lycéens du Bénin.

Dany Laferrière holds honorary doctorates from several institutes and universities, including the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon in 2010, Middlebury College (in the United States) in 2016, the Paris-Sorbonne University, along with Pierre and Marie Curie University in 2016, the University of Ottawa in 2017 and McGill University in 2018.

He was also made an Officer in the National Order of Québec in 2014, Citoyen d'Honneur de la Ville de Montréal in 2014, Compagnon des Arts et des Lettres du Québec in 2015, and an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017.

In November 2024, Canada Post Corporation issued a stamp in his honor.