Poetry of Haitian Independence

Jenson, professor of Romance studies and global health, and her co-editor gathered together Haitian verse written between 1804 and the late 1840s that has remained largely unknown and difficult to access since its original publication two centuries ago.

At the turn of the 19th century, Haiti became the first and only modern country born from a slave revolt. During the first decades of Haitian independence, a wealth of original poetry was created by the inhabitants of the former French Caribbean island colony and published in Haitian newspapers. These deeply felt poems celebrated the legitimacy of the new nation and the value of the authors’ African origins while revealing a common mission shared by all Haitians in the young republic: freedom from oppressors and equality for all. Featuring translations by Norman R. Shapiro from the original French and a foreword by the Haitian-born novelist Edwidge Danticat, this volume stands as a monument to a turning point in Haitian and world history.