By Denise Duverger
Special to CSMS Magazine
Last week, the Haitian author received a warm welcome at the Élysée Palace. Dany, who dressed casually for the occasion, dark jacket without a necktie, was accompanied by Madame Hélène Carrière d’ Encausse, the Academy’s Perpetual Secretary. Madame d’ Encausse’s vote was reportedly to be crucial in Dany’s election to the Academy.
He met French president François Hollande for about 30 minutes. Questioned by a group of journalists who were waiting for him outside the palace, the Haitian writer—with a broad smile on his face—affirmed that he spoke at length with French president on the issue of Haiti, especially on the need to build an important French library because he would like to see a greater presence of France on the island.
Dany Laferrière is also reportedly set to make his inaugural speech in the spring of next year. Dany gained fame for his provocative novel Comment Faire L’Amour Avec un Nègre sans se Fatiguer (How to make love with a black man without getting tired) According to the author, it was this book the French president had on his desk as he entered the room.
Note: Denise Duverger is literature major at UNF. She wrote this piece for CSMS Magazine.
