The Haitian Studies Institute Cries Woukoukou on the Passing of Frankétienne (1936-2025) and Danielle Legros Georges (1965-2025)
The following is a message sent out by the Haitian Studies Institute to its readership on February 11, 2025.
The Haitian Studies Institute Cries Woukoukou on the Passing of Frankétienne (1936-2025) and Danielle Legros Georges (1965-2025)
Si ou louvri zorèy ou lajè yon fèy twonpèt alekout, ou a gen chans tande bri van k ap satouyèt yon makriyonn pyebwa lan mitan yon flonn fèy toutkoulè k ap frisonnen.
Frankétienne
The CUNY Haitian Studies Institute (HSI) at Brooklyn College presents its sincere condolences to the respective families of the luminary writer Frankétienne (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) and the poet laureate Danielle Legros Georges (Boston, Massachusetts, USA) on the passing of their beloved ones. Haiti is a better country for having been the birthplace of these two literary voices.
The HSI equally joins Haitians and friends and comrades from all walks of life throughout the Haitian diaspora and the world in mourning the passage of Frankétienne, a pioneer of Haitian Creole Literature and father of the literary theory spiralism, and poet and Professor Danielle Legros Georges.
The Haitian literary community will surely not be the same without the voices of both Franketyèn and Danielle Legros Georges. For those of us still in the trenches, let’s hope for comfort in reading and rereading the myriad texts left behind by those two.
As Franketyèn and Danielle knew well, the ancestors will receive them with open arms and celebrate their return to Ginen. And the trees, along with us, will continue to be in awe of the winds in their words.
O poorest country, this is not your name.
You should be called beacon. You should be called flame.
Danielle Legros Georges
Franketyèn and Danielle are flames. May their words and memories remain bright for generations to come.
Marie Lily Cerat, Ph.D.
Director