Dany Laferrière Reflects on 'A Life of Misunderstandings' in Le Nouvelliste Column
The acclaimed Haitian-born writer revisits childhood and memory in his 'Ma fenêtre' column.
Haitian-born author Dany Laferrière offered a personal reflection in his 'Ma fenêtre' column published by Le Nouvelliste, titled 'Dany Laferrière: Une vie de malentendus' ('Dany Laferrière: A Life of Misunderstandings'). According to the newspaper, the piece is dedicated to his childhood friend Tony Auguste, 'in memory of a journey that still trembles in my memory.' The column is illustrated by a 2015 photograph credited to Jean-François Nadeau showing musicians Laferrière encountered in the streets of Port-au-Prince who greeted him musically under the midday sun. In the text, Laferrière recalls that in 1997 he had just published a sequel to 'L'odeur du café,' a work he describes with a long and nostalgic title, 'Le charme des après-midi sans fin.' He writes of continuing his 'chasse aux papillons de l'enfance' (chasing the butterflies of childhood) and of reuniting with the character Da 'simply by cancelling time and through the magic of writing,' adding that he thought he had finished with that interminable childhood. The full column is available to registered readers on Le Nouvelliste's website. The excerpt reflects Laferrière's recurring literary themes of memory, nostalgia and Haitian childhood.