Dany Laferrière

A statue of Laferrière by Roger Langevin sits outside the Grande Bibliothèque in Montreal.

Windsor Klébert Laferrière (born 13 April 1953), known as Dany Laferrière is a writer, painter and filmmaker. He was elected to seat 2 of the Académie française on 12 December 2013, and inducted in May 2015. Born in Haiti, he lives between Montreal and Paris.

Life Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Petit-Goâve, Laferrière worked as a journalist in Haiti before moving to Canada in 1976. He also worked as a columnist in Canada and hosted television programming for the TQS network and Radio-Canada.

December 12, 2013, marked a historic event : Dany Laferrière was elected to the Académie française. Before the vote, the Permanent Secretary consulted the President of the French Republic, regarding a candidate who was neither French nor Parisian, but born in Haiti, a naturalized Canadian, and a resident of Montreal. His candidacy was unprecedented. Laferrière was elected on the first round of balloting to Seat no. 2 of the Académie française, becoming the first Haitian, the first Canadian and the first Quebecer to receive that honour. He is the second black person to have been inducted, the first being Senegalese writer and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor in 1983.

In 2021, his wax likeness is also on display at the Musée Grévin in Paris, where he is portrayed seated in an armchair, a book in hand, in conversation with Bernard Pivot, the renowned French literary journalist and television host.

In 2023, Adam Leith Gollner published Working in the Bathtub: Conversations with the Immortal Dany Laferrière, a collection of interviews with Laferrière, some of which were originally published in The Paris Review .

Awards and honors National orders

Commander of the Legion of Honour Officer of the Order of Canada (2015) Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2014)

Cultural orders and distinctions

Grand Officer of the Ordre de la Pléiade Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (France) Companion of the Order of Arts and Letters (Quebec) Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) Medal of the Order of Francophones of America Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal Mérite du français dans la culture (Quebec) Honorary Member of the Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Bordeaux Honorary Member of the Académie de Nîmes

Honorary doctorates

Honorary Doctorate, École normale supérieure de Lyon (2010) Honorary Doctorate, Paris-Sorbonne University and Pierre and Marie Curie University Honorary Doctorate, McGill University Honorary Doctorate, Middlebury College Honorary Doctorate, Simon Fraser University Honorary Doctorate, University of Ottawa Honorary Doctorate, Université du Québec à Montréal

Literary awards

Governor General's Literary Award, for English-language translation, Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?, 1994 Governor General’s Literary Award, for Je suis fou de Vava (Canada, 2006) Prix Médicis, for The Return. (France, 2009) The Grand Prix du livre de Montréal, for The Return. The Blue Metropolis International Literary Grand Prix for his body of work International Literature Award by the House of World Cultures for The Return. Ludger-Duvernay Grand Prix for his body of work (2015) Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for his body of work (2015) Prix Gouverneur de la Rosée for his body of work Meilleur roman français de l’année, Lire magazine, for The Return (2009) Best Essay, Kirkus Reviews, for The World Is Moving Around Me, translated by David Homel (2013) Prix Arbre des voyageurs, for Mythologies américaines Prix Carbet de la Caraïbe, for An Aroma of Coffee Prix Carbet des Lycéens, for Le Cri des oiseaux fous Grand Prix des Lycéens du Bénin, for Le Cri des oiseaux fous (2019) Prix Edgar-Lespérance, for Dining with the Dictator (1992) Prix RFO du Livre, for Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex? (2002)

Film and multimedia awards

Prix Zénith, for Comment conquérir l’Amérique en une nuit ? Banff Rockies Award and Audience Award, for La dérive douce d’un enfant de Petit-Goâve (Pedro Ruiz, 2009) Grand Prix Ulysse Arte Mare, Corsica, for his body of work Grand Prix Hommage, Black Film Festival, for his body of work

Works

Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer, 1985 English translation How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Coach House Press, 1987)

Éroshima, 1987 English translation Eroshima (Coach House Press, 1991)

L'odeur du café, 1991 English translation An Aroma of Coffee (Coach House Press, 1993)

Le goût des jeunes filles, 1992 English translation Dining with the Dictator (Coach House Press, 1994)

Cette grenade dans la main du jeune nègre est-elle une arme ou un fruit?, 1993 , English translation Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex?, 1994 (Coach House Press, 1994)

Chronique de la dérive douce 1994 English translation A Drifting Year (Douglas & McIntyre1997)

Pays sans chapeau, 1996 English translation Down Among the Dead Men (Douglas & McIntyre, 1997)

La chair du maître, 1997 Le charme des après-midi sans fin, 1997 Le cri des oiseaux fous, 2000 J'écris comme je vis; Entretien avec Bernard Magnier, 2000 Je suis fatigué, 2000 Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit ?, 2004 How to Conquer America in One Night Je suis fou de Vava, 2005 – children's book Les années 80 dans ma vieille Ford, 2005 Pays sans chapeau, 2006 Vers le Sud, 2006 English translation Heading South (Douglas & McIntyre, 2008)

Je suis un écrivain japonais English translation I Am a Japanese Writer (Douglas & McIntyre, 2010)

La fête des morts, 2009 – children's book L'énigme du retour, 2009 English translation The Enigma of the Return (Douglas & McIntyre, 2011) English translation The Return Un art de vivre par temps de catastrophe, 2009

Tout bouge autour de moi, 2010 English translation The World is Moving Around Me (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2013) Conversations. Interviews avec Ghila Sroka, 2010

L'art presque perdu de ne rien faire, 2011 Journal d'un écrivain en pyjama, 2013 Le baiser mauve de Vava, 2014 – children's book Tout ce qu'on ne te dira pas, Mongo, 2015 Mythologies américaines, 2015 – collected works Discours à l’Académie française, 2015 Autoportrait de Paris avec Chat, 2018 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel Vers d'autres rives, 2019 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel L'exil vaut le voyage, 2020 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel Sur la route avec Bashō, 2021 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel Petit traité du racisme en Amérique, 2021 Dans la splendeur de la nuit, 2022 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel L'enfant qui regarde, 2022 Un certain art de vivre, 2024 Autobiographie américaine, 2024 – collected works L'obsession du rouge, 2025 – handwritten and hand-drawn novel