René Depestre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
René Depestre
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| Born | 29 August 1926  |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, essayist |
| Works | Hadriana in All My Dreams |
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René Depestre was born on August 29, 1926, in Jacmel, Haiti. He is a famous Haitian-French poet and writer. Many people consider him one of the most important writers in Haitian literature. For a long time, he lived in Cuba because he was exiled from the Duvalier government in Haiti. He also helped start a publishing house called Casa de las Américas. René Depestre is most famous for his amazing poetry.
Contents
René Depestre's Life Story
René Depestre went to primary school with the Breton Brothers of Christian Instruction. His father passed away in 1936. After that, René left his mother and siblings to live with his grandmother. From 1940 to 1944, he finished his high school studies in Port-au-Prince. His hometown of Jacmel often appears in his poems and novels. One example is his book Hadriana in All My Dreams (1988).
Early Writings and Activism
His first collection of poems, Étincelles (Sparks), came out in 1945. He was only 19 years old when it was published. The poems were inspired by a style called "marvelous realism." René Depestre and three friends started a weekly magazine called The Hive (1945–46). They wanted to help Haitians understand their history and identity.
In 1945, the Haitian government took copies of their magazine. This happened because the magazine honored a writer named André Breton. This event led to a big uprising in 1946. Depestre met many Haitian writers and thinkers. He also met important people from other countries. He was part of student movements in January 1946. These movements helped remove President Élie Lescot from power.
Exile and Studies Abroad
Soon after, the army took control, and Depestre was arrested. He was then sent away from Haiti. From 1946 to 1950, he studied literature and politics at the Sorbonne in Paris. In Paris, he met French poets who were part of the surrealist movement. He also met artists and thinkers from the négritude movement. This group focused on Black identity and culture.
Depestre actively supported movements to end colonial rule in France. Because of this, he was forced to leave France with his first wife, Edith Sorel. He went to Prague, but was also forced to leave there in 1952. He then went to Cuba, invited by the writer Nicolás Guillén. However, the government there, led by Fulgencio Batista, also stopped him and made him leave. France and Italy would not let him enter.
He traveled to Austria, then Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. He stayed in Chile long enough to help organize a big cultural meeting. He worked with famous writers like Pablo Neruda and Jorge Amado.
Return to Paris and Cuba
After Brazil, Depestre returned to Paris in 1956. There, he met other Haitians, including Jacques Stephen Alexis. He took part in the first Pan-African congress in September 1956. He wrote for important journals like Présence Africaine. He went back to Haiti in 1956–57. He refused to work with the Duvalier government and asked Haitians to resist. He was put under house arrest.
In 1959, Depestre went to Cuba after being invited by Che Guevara. He believed in the goals of the Cuban Revolution. He helped with different parts of the government and culture. He worked for the Ministry for Foreign Relations and the National Council of Culture. He also worked for Radio Havana Cuba and Casa de las Américas. Depestre traveled a lot for official events. He visited countries like the USSR, China, and Vietnam. He also attended the first Pan-African Cultural Festival in 1969. There, he met the Congolese writer Henri Lopes, with whom he later worked at UNESCO.
During his time in Cuba and his travels, René Depestre kept writing poetry. His book Poet in Cuba (1973) explores the changes happening in the Cuban Revolution.
Later Life and Awards
In 1971, the Cuban government started to push him aside. In 1978, Depestre left Cuba and went back to Paris. He began working at the UNESCO Secretariat. In 1979, he published Le Mat de Cocagne, his first novel. In 1980, he published Alléluia pour une femme-jardin. For this book, he won the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle in 1982.
Depestre left UNESCO in 1986 and moved to the Aude region of France. In 1988, he published Hadriana in All My Dreams. This book won many literary awards, including the famous Prix Théophraste Renaudot. He became a French citizen in 1991. He continued to receive many honors, such as the Prix Guillaume Apollinaire for his Anthologie personnelle (1993). He also received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1995. A documentary film about him, Haiti in All Our Dreams, was made in 1996.
Reflections on Identity
Depestre has also written important essays. In Bonjour et adieu à la négritude (Hello and Good-bye to Négritude), he shares his thoughts on the négritude movement. This movement was started by writers like Léopold Sédar Senghor and Aimé Césaire. Depestre was impressed by Aimé Césaire. He was also fascinated by Creole life and culture. He questioned the idea of négritude from a young age. He saw it as focusing too much on ethnic background. However, he also recognized its importance in world history. He wrote more about this topic in his books Ainsi parle le fleuve noir (1998) and Le Métier à métisser (1998).
René Depestre does not see himself as someone who was exiled. Instead, he prefers to be called a "nomad with many roots." He describes himself as a "banyan" man, like the tree with many roots. Since 1986, Depestre has lived in a small village in France called Lézignan-Corbières. He lives there with his second wife, Nelly Campano, who is Cuban.
His books have been published in many countries around the world. These include the United States, France, Germany, Cuba, and Vietnam. His first book of poems, Sparks (Etincelles), came out in 1945. Other important poetry books include Gerbe de sang (1946) and Un arc-en-ciel pour l'occident chrétien poeme mystère vaudou (1966). His poems have appeared in many collections in French, Spanish, and German. He is a special envoy for UNESCO in Haiti. He is also the uncle of Michaëlle Jean, who was the Governor General of Canada from 2005 to 2010.
Selected Works
Poetry Collections
- Etincelles, Port-au-Princ: Imprimerie de l'Etat, 1945
- Gerbes de Sang, Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l'Etat, 1946
- Végétations de Clarté, Paris: Seghers, 1951
- Traduit du Grand Large, poème de ma patrie enchainée, Paris: Seghers, 1952
- Minerai noir, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1956
- Un arc-en-ciel pour l'occident chrétien, poème mystère vaudou, 1966
- Journal d'un animal marin, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1967
- Cantate d'Octobre à la Vie et à la Mort du Commandant Ernesto Che Guevara, Havana: Institudo del Libro, 1968
- Poète à Cuba, Paris: Pierre Jean Oswald, 1976
- En etat de poésie, Paris: Les Editeurs français réunis, 1980
- Lettre à un poète du marronnage, Bois Pluriel, 1988
- Au Matin de la négritude, Paris: Euroeditor, 1990
- Anthologie personelle, Arles: Actes Sud, 1993
- "Ode à Malcolm X: Grande Brigitte", in Literature Moderne du Monde Francophone, by Peter Thompson. Chicago: National Textbook Company (McGraw-Hill), 1997, ISBN: 978-0-8442-1588-4
- Un Eté indien de la parole, Double Cloche, 2001
- Non-assistance à poète en danger, Paris: Seghers, 2005
- Rage de vivre. Oeuvres poétiques complètes, Paris: Seghers, 2007
Novels and Short Stories
- El Paso Ensebado (in Spanish), 1975
- Le Mât de cocagne, Paris: Gallimard, 1979
- Alléluia pour une femme jardin, Paris: Gallimard, 1981
- Hadriana dans Tous mes Rêves, Paris: Gallimard, 1988 – Prix Renaudot
- Eros dans un train chinois, Paris: Gallimard, 1990
- "La mort coupée sur mesure", in Noir des îles, Paris: Gallimard, 1995
- "Un rêve japonais", in Le Serpent à plumes. Récits et fictions courtes, Paris: Le Serpent à plumes, 1993
- L'oeillet ensorcelé, Paris: Gallimard, 2006
Essays
- Pour la révolution pour la poésie, Paris: Leméac, 1974
- Bonjour et Adieu à la Négritude, Paris: Robert Laffont, 1980
- Le Métier à métisser, Paris: Stock, 1998
- Ainsi parle le fleuve noir, Paroles de l'Aube, 1998
See also
In Spanish: René Depestre para niños
