Edmond Laforest

Edmond Laforest (20 June 1876 – 1915) was a Haitian poet.

Life and works

Born in Jérémie, Laforest was a teacher of French and mathematics. Some of his most noted words are Poèmes Mélancoliques (1901), Sonnets-Médaillons (1909), and Cendres et Flammes.

He killed himself by tying a Larousse dictionary around his neck and jumping off a bridge, to expose how the French language, imposed upon him by colonists, had killed him artistically.^[1]

References

1. Henry Louis Gates, Jr, 'Editor's Introduction: Writing 'Race' and the Difference It Makes', Race, Writing and Difference, University of Chicago Press, 1987, page 13

• Schutt-Ainé, Patricia (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-9638599-0-7.