An Evening with Yanick Lahens

Yanick Lahens was born in 1953 in Haiti. She completed her primary and part of her secondary education there before going to France to pursue university studies in Modern Literature. She returned to Haiti in 1977. There, she taught literature at the State University of Haiti and participated, at the National Pedagogical Institute, in the implementation of the reform that contributed, among other things, to the introduction of Creole language instruction in the early years of primary school. She hosted a cultural program, Entre nous, on Radio Haïti Inter and published her first articles on Haitian literature and society.

She left university teaching in 1995 and, after serving in the cabinet of Minister of Culture Raoul Peck, joined the leadership of the Slave Route Project, which explored the issue of slavery through the lens of science and the arts, until the project's activities in Haiti ceased in 2000. Around the same time, she became a member of the editorial board of the Haitian-Caribbean journal Chemins Critiques, a significant contributor to intellectual discourse in Haiti and the Caribbean. She was a member of the International Congress of Francophone Studies, an organization founded by North American universities. She remains a member of the editorial board of the Franco-Haitian journal Conjonction and publishes in Haitian and international journals. She recently joined the board of directors of Quisqueya University (Port-au-Prince).

In 1998, she co-founded the Haitian Writers' Association with other writers and continued to lead literary seminars.

In 2008, she established a foundation that mentors young people in activities raising awareness about social issues. She also supports organizations working to promote reading, establish libraries and organize cultural events.

In 1990, her essay, "Entre l’ancrage et la fuite, l’écrivain haïtien" (Deschamps, Port-au-Prince), was published, soon followed by two collections of short stories: "Tante Résia et les dieux" (L’Harmattan, Paris) in 1994 and "La Petite Corruption" (Éditions Mémoire, Port-au-Prince) in 1999. In 2000, her first novel, "Dans la maison du père," was published by Serpent à Plumes (Paris), followed in 2005 by a third collection of short stories, "La Folie était venue avec la pluie" (Presses Nationales, Haiti). All her published short stories—many of which were previously unpublished in France—are collected in a volume entitled "L’Oiseau Parker dans la nuit et autres Nouvelles," published by Sabine Wespieser Éditeur in March 2019.

Since 2008, all her books have been published by Sabine Wespieser Éditeur: "La Couleur de l’aube" (novel, 2008), "Failles" (Fault Lines) (essay, 2010), "Guillaume et Nathalie" (novel, 2013), "Bain de lune" (novel, 2014), and "Douces déroutes" (novel, 2018).

"Dans la maison du père" won the Literatur Preis at the Leipzig Book Fair in 2009. La couleur de l’aube was a multiple prize winner: the 2008 Millepages Prize, the 2009 RFO Prize, the 2009 Richelieu Francophonie Prize, and the Vincennes Readers' Prize at the Festival America in 2010; Guillaume et Nathalie won the 2013 ADELF Prize and the 2013 Carbet High School Students' Prize; Bain de lune won the 2014 Femina Prize.

Her works have been translated into English, Brazilian Portuguese, Catalan, Japanese, German, and Italian. Translations are currently underway into Norwegian and Spanish.

Yanick Lahens was honored by the women's organization Kay Fanm for her civic engagement in 2007. She has also received recognition from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Organisation of Francophonie in Haiti, the Haitian Studies Association for her entire body of work, and the ARAKA cultural association. She was the first woman to be the guest of honor at the Livres en Folie book fair in Haiti in 2009, and was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by France in 2009.

Hailed by the Collège de France as “a remarkable figure in French-language literature and culture,” Yanick Lahens delivered the inaugural lecture for the Chair of Francophone Worlds on March 21, 2019, entitled “Urgency(s) to Write, Dream(s) to Inhabit,” broadcast on France Culture on Friday, March 12, 2021, and available to listen to again on their website.

In October 2020, Yanick Lahens was awarded the Carbet Prize for her entire body of work “for her contribution to a better understanding of Haitian literature and culture, as well as the representation of the Caribbean world.”

In October 2025, her latest novel, "Passagères de nuit," won the prestigious Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française.

View Lahens' bio in French.