James Noël

James Noël
Period: 2012-2013
Profession: Writer Born in Hinche (Haiti) in 1978, James Noël is a poet, writer and columnist.
He writes, he says,
to rid his body of all words, in order to move forward in time lighter than paper. He is the author of a dozen books, mainly
poetry (a language without frontiers par excellence, apt to circulate on foot or in free verse in all genres). He is featured in numerous anthologies, including L’année poétique 2008 (Seghers), 144 Poètes autour du monde (Seghers), Nous, la Multitude (Editions Temps Des Cerises, 2010), and has himself coordinated two poetry anthologies. He has also contributed to various magazines, including Casa De las Americas, La Sœur de l’ange, Europe and Exit. In 2010, following the violent earthquake that left his country more breathless than ever, he wrote La fleur de Guernica, illustrated by visual artist Pascale Monnin. He confesses: ”
In the face of this great misfortune, the poet in me fell into childhood, so I wrote a children’s album”. In 2011, he surprised everyone with the publication of Kana sutra, to coincide with the Étonnants voyageurs festival in Saint-Malo, a publication he describes as a book of positions on many things, or a small collection of rural wisdoms to fix his turns and intranqu’îlités. In her preface, novelist and poet Ananda Dévi writes: James Noël takes on the multiple identities of poet, writer, man, Haitian, tree, bird and book, the one who, between uprooting and enchantment, prefers the wiggle of the soul (you can see his pen rolling back to the rhythm of his verses!) He is also the one who finds a way to lift the heart trapped between two cracks: the screen of time and the space of the keyboard. Mr James has a sad song, but Dr Noël is the surgeon of smiles. A rodent of meridians, he travels the globe, regularly taking part in festivals, book fairs and other events. A man always on the move, his writing follows this accelerated rhythm to achieve a shifting stability. A regular at writing residencies all over the world, he is the founder of Passagers Des Vents, the first artistic and literary residency structure in Haiti, created to offer hospitality to imaginary worlds. His texts have been set to music by Wooly Saint-Jean, Robenson Auguste and Tamara Suffren, and set to music by Pierre Brisson and the famous singer-performer Arthur H, in his show L’OR NOIR. Available on the Île en Île website and hosted by TV 5 Monde, his dossier is the first in a series on Haitian literature, visited by over 45,000 French teachers worldwide. At the Villa Médicis, where he will be staying for a year, he will work on his first novel, about Port-au-Prince and Pompeii, two cities siamese in misfortune. He writes in two languages: Creole for his left hand, French for his right. Poetry
Poèmes à double tranchant / Seul le baiser pour muselière . Preface by Frankétienne. Port-au-Prince: Farandole, 2005; reprint illustrated by Valérie Constantin. Mazères (France): Le Chasseur Abstrait, 2009.
Le Sang visible du vitrier . Preface by Jacques Taurand. Port-au-Prince: Farandole, 2006; Montreal: CIDIHCA, 2007; expanded reprint, La Roque d’Anthéron: Vents d’Ailleurs, 2009.
Bon Nouvèl . Port-au-Prince: Kopivit-L’Action Sociale, 2009.
Kabòn 47 . Port-au-Prince: Kopivit-L’Action Sociale, 2009.
Quelques poèmes et des poussières (with
Vingt-cinq poèmes avant le jour , by Dominique Maurizi).
Rectoverso . Paris: Albertine, 2009.
Des poings chauffés à blanc . Paris: Bruno Doucey / Montréal: Noroît, 2010.
Kana Sutra . La Roque d’Anthéron: Vents d’Ailleurs, 2011. Children’s literature
La fleur de Guernica , with illustrations by Pascale Monnin. La Roque d’Anthéron: Vents d’Ailleurs, 2010. Filmography
James Noël: Le poète des métaphores , documentary film directed by Jean Antoine Arisma, broadcast on the “Culture 5” program on Télemax (Haïti). (2005) 8 minutes.
La danse des pieds , short film directed by Dominique Batraville and Kendy Vérilus, inspired by James Noël’s “Bon Nouvèl”. 2005, 13 minutes.
Stone in the Sun, directed by Patricia Benoit, 95 mins USA, 2011. Launched online in January 2012 and hosted by Médiapart, Intranqu’îllités magazine focuses on the world’s imaginary worlds, bringing together some 50 contributions in its first issue from contributors such as Ananda Devi, René Depestre, Hubbert Haddad, José Manuel Fajardo, Dany Laferrière, Yahia Belaskri, Makenzy Orcel, Marvin Victor, Patrick Chamoiseau, Boris Gamaleya, Bruno Doucey, Michel Le Bris, Frankétienne, Emmelie Prophète and many others… Divided into 8 sections, with imaginary worlds at the epicenter of its objectives, the magazine aims to be a black box that captures and gathers movements, vibrations and other creative intranquillities. This first issue includes a tribute to Jacques Stephen Alexis, bringing together letters written by contemporary authors to their daughters or sons, real or imaginary, such as the letter written by Jacques Stephen Alexis to his daughter Florence.
On Mediapart: Haïti en intranqu’îllités “Produced by James Noël and Pascale Monnin in Haiti, the lush inaugural issue of Intranqu’îllités magazine, announced in January on our website, has arrived safely.  Backed by the Passagers des Vents association, the first artistic and literary residency on the island, the magazine is teeming with contributions that are veritable beacons of hope on the long, narrow road that must necessarily lead Haiti back to the “home of mundiality”, in the words of the elder René Depestre. Mediapart is a full partner in this manifesto. ” http://blogs.mediapart.fr/ edition/revues-cie/article/ 270612/haiti-en-intranqu- illites
Extrait du dossier élaboré par Patrice Beray le 27 juin 2012 sur Mediapart Les mots de Dany Laferrière à propos de la revue IntranQu’îllités
” Revue publiée en Haïti par des écrivains haïtiens qui ont invité des écrivains venant de partout pour participer au nouveau printemps de la culture haïtienne après le séisme. There’s a kind of gaiety, a kind of fervor, a kind of fiesta that heralds the renewed springtime of Haitian culture and says quite simply that a people who have produced someone like Jacques Stephen Alexis cannot die.”
Excerpt from the program “Des kiwis et des hommes” on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 on Radio Canada Film based on the poem “Une lampe au fond des mers”, for La Francophonie in China.
http://www.faguowenhua.com/saison-culturelle/fete-de-la-francophonie-2013?lang=fr