Master Drummer Frisner Augustin will give Haitian drum workshops twice daily from July 11 through July 16, at Kay Mystique, a New Orleans Vodou temple. See the Kay Mystique site for details, or sign up at New Orleans Mystic. Students who take classes that week will have a chance on Saturday, July 16th, to perform with members of La Troupe Makandal, a Haitian dance ensemble.
Eastern Digital Resources is sponsoring a creative writing contest to promote “new and emerging Haitian authors and to encourage reading and writing in Creole.” Twelve to fifteen authors will be selected to be published in The Best of Creole – 2005, and judges will award a $100 prize to one author. The deadline for submissions is August 31, 2005, and a broad range of manuscripts will be accepted. See the website for full details.
The New York Film and Video Festival is running in After 200 years of Independence, Thompson The Great (Amboise Thompson), an octogenarian believes that he can talk to Jean Jacques Dessalines, The father of the Nation. This film is about life in a poor country with 200 years of Independence.
From the Haiti List, I see that Lincoln Center’s New Directors New Films series is presenting The Gospel of the Creole Pig on April 2 at 9:15 at the Museum of Modern Art. See full details here.
Glencoe Online has a web page up in preparation for Haitian Cultural Heritage Month in May.
The blog Art for a Change recently ran this post on Jacob Lawrence, an African-American painter who, in 1938 at the age of 21, produced a 41-panel series depicting the life of Toussaint Louverture. At least one of the links in the original post is broken, so here are some other links to biographies of Jacob Lawrence and to images of the Toussaint series: 15 color prints from the series.
A reminder popped up on one of the mailing lists today about a terrific CD – Happy Birthday Haiti, featuring Kiskeya: The Haitian Orchestra.
Danny Glover, star of the Lethal Weapon series and numerous other movies, has started a new production company: Louverture Films.
Saturday, February 5, 10:00 PM @ Satalla 27 West 26th Street (between 6th Ave and Broadway) $15.00 212-576-1155 or www.satalla.com Bonga: This traditional Haitian drum battery is comprised of family members who deliver straight-up Vodou rhythms. Great spot for a nice vibe of mizik rasin (roots music) with an uplifting kreyol chorus. Some fierce drumming, dancing and world-class musicianship too.
Full story at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer… THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Edwidge Danticat’s “The Dew Breaker” has been named the winner of the first Story Prize, which honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction. Published by Random House’s Alfred A. Knopf imprint, “The Dew Breaker” is a book of connected stories about Haitians and Haitian-Americans whose lives have been affected by the actions of the title character, a humble Brooklyn barber with a secret past in his native land. “The Dew Breaker” also is a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award, which will be announced in March.