Brierre, Jean

Brièrre, Jean 

Born Sept. 28, 1909, in Jerémie. Haitian poet and public figure. Writes in French.

Brièrre participated in the anti-imperialist movement in the 1920’s and 1930’s and held diplomatic posts. He is author of patriotic verse dramas: In the Citadel’s Heart (1930), The Banner of the Future (1931), Pétion and Bolívar (1955), and Farewell to the Marseillaise (1955). His narrative poems include Black Soul (1947) about the sufferings and hopes of all the Negro peoples, The Roots (1956), in which the image of the original homeland of African Negroes symbolically merges with the heroic images of the Haitian past, and Discoveries (1962). The collection of poems Let’s Preserve God (1945) is devoted to the memory of the progressive Haitian figure and Brièrre’s friend, Jacques Roumain. In 1964 Brièrre emigrated to Senegal and has since been actively participating in the country’s cultural life.

WORKS

Lubin, M., and C. Saint-Louis. Panorama de la poésie haïtienne. Port-au-Prince, 1950.
Lubin, M. Poésies haïtiennes. Rio de Janiero, 1956.
Les Horizons sans ciel. [No place], 1954.
In Russian translation:
“Vstrecha, On nezhno vas liubil.” Novy Mir, 1958, no. 11.
“Chernaia dusha, Ia s toboi, Garlem.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1960, no. 1.
“Dukh Tashkenta.” Inostrannaia literatura, 1968, no. 12.
“Privetstvie Leninu [i dr. stikhi].” Inostrannaia literatura, 1969, no. 4.
“Black Soul.” In Vremia plameneiushchikh derev’ev. Moscow, 1961.

REFERENCES

Gal’perina, E. “Poetry Antil’skikh ostrovov.” Voprosy literatury, 1961, no. 1.
Kurgantsev, M. “Prikhozhu, chtoby s Leninym govorit’.” Pravda, June 20, 1969, no. 171.