Main reading - Jean D‘Amérique

Jean D'Amérique, the Haitian poet, rapper, and playwright, brings his work to the Rotterdam stage at The Poetry Summit. His texts are not only literarily powerful but also deeply socially engaged. Jean is not just known for his poetry, but also for his work as a rapper and playwright. He is the author of the play Le Cri des Hiboux, and his rap songs bring the same sharp, critical perspective on society.

His poetry is a blend of emotion, critique, and hope, often focusing on the political and social struggles in Haiti, but always with a forward-looking vision. In this reading, we will hear a selection of his work, translated into Dutch by the renowned translator Rokus Hofstede.

Whether you're a fan of poetry, rap, or theater, Jean D'Amérique knows how to touch his audience with his unique voice and message. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear one of the most promising voices in contemporary Caribbean literature!

Jean D’Amérique is a Haitian-born, Paris-based poet, playwright, rapper and novelist.

Already with his first poetry collection Petite fleur du ghetto (2015) he caught the attention of the literary world, receiving a special mention from the Prix René Philoctète de la poésie and the Prix Révélation Poésie by the Société des Gens de Lettres. D’Amérique continued this success with his second publication No Way in The Skin Without this Bloody Embrace (2017), winning the Prix de Poésie de la Vocation. After collaborating with the collective Loque Urbaine in setting up the Transe Poétique international festival based in Port-au-Prince in 2019, he published his first novel Soleil à coudre (2021; A Sun to Be Sewn, 2023) for which is he is awarded the Prix Montluc Résistance et Liberté.

Not afraid to look away from the violence of reality, Jean D’Amérique experiments with new poetic forms and a range of media. He explores political violence and the lives of the marginalized. His intense style is bathed in violence, with the poet himself describing his poetry as created in the red puddle, while also aiming to heal wounds and exorcise pain through his poetry.

D’Amérique is also a playwright, having received the Jacques Scherer Prize for Theater for his play Opéra poussière (2022). He contributes to several literary magazines, leads writing workshops and released his first rap album Mélancolie Gang in 2023.