The special issue “Re-Conceiving Hispaniola” was recently published by The Journal of Haitian Studies (Volume 16, Number 1, Spring 2010). This peer-reviewed, bilingual special issue of JOHS was co-edited by Robert H. McCormick, Jr., Editor-in-Chief, Sally Barbour, and Sara Steinert-Borella. It is dedicated to writer Jean-Claude Fignolé.

Born in Jérémie, Haiti, on May 24, 1914, Jean-Claude Fignolé is known as an educator, journalist, scholar, and novelist. Also known for his numerous essays in art and literary criticism, this scholar is one of the co-founders of the Spiralist Movement, with René Philoctète and Frankétienne. Fignolé is also mayor of Les Abricots, in southwestern Haiti.  Last year, he was the keynote speaker at the Caribbean Unbound IV conference held on the campus of Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland (April 2-4, 2009). 

“Re-Conceiving Hispaniola” opens with “Dossier: Jean-Claude Fignolé,” an interview of the writer conducted in Pétionville by Kathleen Gyssels, followed by the complete text (in French) of Fignolé’s keynote lecture—“Marvelous Realism! Metamorphosis of the Real?.”  The interview and lecture have been translated into English by Kaiama L. Glover. The remaining eleven articles and literary texts focus on Haitian borders and the difficulties of life in the Diaspora. 

For more information on the journal, see http://research.ucsb.edu/cbs/publications/johs.html

For biography of Jean-Claude Fignolé (in French), see http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/fignole.html

Photo from http://www.potomitan.info/colloques/lugano_2009.php