On September 2, Haitian writer Yanick Lahens received the 2015 Joseph D. Charles Prize [Prix Joseph D. Charles 2015] awarded by the Georges Castera Library and the jury of the Joseph D. Charles literary prize. The award ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2015, in the Georges Castera Library gardens.

Author of a dozen literary works, including essays, novels and short stories, this is not Yanick Lahens’ first prize. She received the Richelieu International Award for Francophone Literature in 2009 (Prix Littéraire Richelieu de la Francophonie 2009) for her book La couleur de l’aube; the Excellence Award of the Association of Haitian Studies in 2011 for her entire literary corpus; the 2014 Femina Prize for her novel Bain de Lune. This year, it was for her short story collection La folie était venue avec la pluie.

Published in 2006 by Éditions Presses Nationales d’Haïti and reissued this year by LEGS Éditions, La folie était venue avec la pluie includes seven stories: “La folie,” “Tout ce malaise,” “Trois morts naturelles,”  “L’oiseau Parker,” “Lave ta mémoire à grande eau,” “Le quartier,” “La ravine et la vieille Peugeot,” and “L’homme du sommeil.” Themes include love, life, death, violence, rain, and modern youth.

The Joseph D. Charles Prize is awarded annually to a Haitian writer by the Georges Castera Library in Limbé. It is one way in which the director of the library, Clément Benoît II, honors a great figure of Haitian literature in his/her lifetime, offers success stories to Haitian youth, and keeps the memory of the Haitian diplomat Joseph D. Charles alive in Limbé.

Other recipients of the prize are: Emilie Prophète (in 2011 for Le reste du temps), Claude Pierre (in 2012 for Le voyage inventé), and Frantz Carly (in 2014 for L’ombre d’un doute).

This post was based on the original article (in French) at http://www.maghaiti.net/le-prix-joseph-d-charles-2015-decerne-a-yanick-lahens/

For purchasing information, see http://www.amazon.com/folie-%C3%A9tait-venue-French-Edition/dp/9997086090