Making Creole, Living Language

An international conference organized by the FSU Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies in collaboration with Louisiana State University, with writers Lyonel Trouillot, Kettly Mars, Guy Régis Jr., Bonel Auguste, Mélissa Béralus, Georgy Lundy; singer Wooly Saint-Louis Jean, and publishers Pedro Naason Théoné, Dieulermesson Petit-frère, and Rodney Saint-Eloi, with further participants to be announced.

In a single century, while Haitian Creole had long been excluded from written form and regarded as the opposite of higher culture, social status and prestige, kept away from institutional presence and the public forum, by the 1960's onward Creole became the forum of public expression and acquired the status of literary language.

From the inward turn of the Revue indigène (1927) to the constitutional recognition of Kreyòl as an official language in 1987, Haitian poets, playwrights, novelists, storytellers, singers, and scholars have built a body of work that undid the old hierarchy placing French above Creole. Two anniversaries anchor this conference: the centenary of the Revue indigène and the fortieth anniversary of the 1987 Constitution.

Making Creole brings together the people who made and are still making that literature. Over three days, the conference will convene writers who compose directly in Creole, artists who carry it into performance and song, and scholars who have theorized and historicized its rise from Haiti, the Caribbean, North America and Europe.

The program will combine keynote lectures, artist talks, roundtable conversations, workshops, readings, and performances, with particular attention to women's voices and emerging generations.