Edmond Laforest (20 June 1876 – 17 October 1915)[1] was a Haitian poet.

Life and works edit

Born in Jérémie, Laforest was a teacher of French and mathematics. Some of his most noted works are Poèmes Mélancoliques (1901), Sonnets-Médaillons (1909), and Cendres et Flammes.

He killed himself by tying a Larousse dictionary around his neck and jumping off a bridge, to expose how the French language, imposed upon him by colonists, had killed him artistically.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ Donald E. Herdeck; Maurice Alcibiade Lubin; Margaret Herdeck (1979). Caribbean Writers: A Bio-bibliographical-critical Encyclopedia. Three Continents Press. p. 413. ISBN 978-0-914478-74-4.
  2. ^ Henry Louis Gates, Jr, "Editor's Introduction: Writing 'Race' and the Difference It Makes", Race, Writing and Difference, University of Chicago Press, 1987, p. 13.
  • Schutt-Ainé, Patricia (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-9638599-0-7.