Open Gate An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry

Open Gate is the first bilingual volume of Haitian Creole poetry published in English. Seven years in the making, this anthology is the result of the dedication of its editors and translators, Paul Laraque, Jack Hirschman and the Haitian poet Boadiba, as well as Max Manigat, one of the first teachers of Creole on the university level who was an invaluable advisor. The editors focus on contemporary Creole poetry that reflects the struggle for human rights in Haiti. The book is divided into three sections: Pioneers of Modern Haitian Creole poetry, beginning with the founder of modern Haitian Creole literature, Felix Morisseu-Leroy (1913a?"1998); the flowering of Haitian poetry as represented by the literary movement, "Society of Butterflies," some of whose members were jailed or exiled by the bloody Duvalier dictatorship; and the New Generation featuring primrily those poets in the Diaspora whose work has been published in the last 15 years. We Pass Through A Foreigner's House We go up a foreigner's steps And find our children Sweeping his floor We pass through a foreigner's house And find our paintings On his wall We hear our music coming from his gullet We enter a foreigner's kitchen And find our dove In his cooking pot He's trying to cook our bird alive He's trying to smother our wild dove Someone's lifting the lid The dove's escaping Leaving on the fire An empty pot That's burning. The poet Paul Laraque was born in Haiti in 1920. At present Laraque devotes his time to his writing and to his work as Secretary of the Association of Haitian Writers Abroad. Jack Hirschman authored more than 25 translations of poetry from 8 languages. He lives in San Francisco.Laraque, Paul is the author of 'Open Gate An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry', published 2001 under ISBN 9781880684757 and ISBN 1880684756.