Edmond Laforest

Biography

(Born in Jérémie, 1876; Died in Port-au-Prince, 1915)

Edmond Laforest was an accomplished and influential writer, critic, and editor for La Patrie and Haïti littéraire et scientifique. His published works include L’Evolution (1901), Poèmes Mélancoliques (1901), La dernière fée (1909), Sonnets-Médaillons du XIXe siècle (1909), and Cendres et flammes (1912) with a list of unpublished materials listed in the excellent biography compiled by Spear, Dominique and Laforest (a descendent of the poet). An English translation of « Evening » is included in Underwood’s The Poets of Haiti (133). Laforest is perhaps best known today for his death. In 1915, as a form of protest against Haitian occupation, he drowned himself in a pool with a French dictionary (Larousse) tied to his neck (Moravia). He had recorded his contempt for the political state of Haiti in La Patrie before this final act (Moravia; Spear et al). This tragic end likely influenced later reception of his works as melancholic and pessimistic (Morpeau 218).

                                                                                                Biography by Emeline Frix, 2023

Bibliography

Laforest, Edmond. Cendres et flammes. Messein, 1912. https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb30716672r

Moravia, Charles. “Edmond Laforest.” La Plume, 19 Oct. 1915. Reprinted in Ile en Ile: https://ile-en-ile.org/edmond-laforest-par-charles-moravia-1915/

Morpeau, Louis. Anthologie d'un siècle de poésie haïtienne 1817-1925. Bossard, 1924.

Spear, Thomas, Max Dominique and Jean-Richard Laforest. "Edmond Laforest." Ile-en-France, 2020. Detailed bio-bibliographical essay. https://ile-en-ile.org/laforest_edmond/

Underwood, Edna Worthley. The Poets of Haiti, 1782-1934. The Mosher Press, 1934.