poets for ayiti press
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 02:28AM Haiti poetry reading
The scenes of the Haitian earthquake on January 12 that killed at least 230,000 people and reduced the small country’s capital to a pile of rubble have faded from the front pages, but for those here who have friends and relatives still suffering in the wake of the quake, the need for aid is an everyday struggle.
Poet Kathy Engel of Bridgehampton has always believed that art nourishes the soul, and she and the owners of Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor have arranged a special benefit reading this Saturday night to help rebuild a library, the Bibliothèque du Soleil in Carrefour-Feuilles, not far from the earthquake’s epicenter in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
“When you talk to people in Haiti, they emphasise the environment and education. We’re supporting the idea that you will build and you will grow,” she said.
Ms. Engel is part of an impromptu group of poets, most of whom live in the United States but have ties to Haiti, who call themselves Poets for Ayiti, the Haitian Kreyol name for Haiti. The group just released a chapbook titled “For The Crowns of Our Head” and is now planning a full-scale anthology of Haitian poetry.
“We’ve only had one meeting as a whole group. We’re scattered, so it takes a lot of trust and a lot of commitment to the work,” said Ms. Engel.
The group is planning several events in April, National Poetry Month, including a full scale reading at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City on April 28 that many of the 24 poets who contributed to the chapbook will attend.
Poet Ella Turenne, who works to develop community activism as a professor at the Eugene Lang College at The New School, is one of several writers with work in the chapbook who will read on Saturday night.
Ms. Turenne has devoted much of her life to promoting Hatian culture, and she echoed the notion that education is a driving factor in Hatians’ lives.
“I suggested the library,” she said. “We may be the poorest country in the Western hemisphere but we’re very rich in culture, which has sustained us. It’s a vital part of our well-being. Poetry is very important to that.”
Yolaine St. Fort is another poet whose work has been included in the anthology.
“I like to use poetry as a means for change,” she said. “Here we take libraries for granted, but in Haiti, it’s almost like words are edible. You say we should be feeding people, but there’s a need for the newer generation to dream of sustaining themselves. I see parents dream that their children can spell their names.”
Nadege Citandre, who helped found the Bibliotheque du Soleil with her father, a journalist and author, said that the library had installed its first computer lab with internet access just weeks before the earthquake. Ms. Citandre, who supports the library through a non-profit in California called Haiti Soleil, has been working frantically to raise $25,000 to begin the rebuilding project, which she estimates will cost $100,000 when finished.
She said that the entire library building, which was constructed in 2005, was riddled with cracks after the earthquake and had to be demolished. She is working on restarting programs for children in the community who cannot go to school because the schools have been destroyed.
“The kids have nothing to do and we’re trying to fill that void,” she said, adding that it’s hard for her organization to catch the attention of Americans who could help the library rebuild. She has raised about $6,000 so far.
“A lot of the money goes to major organizations that already have the money, but organizations doing work with minimal funds don’t get funding,” she said.
Canio’s Books co-owner Maryanne Calendrille hopes to change that.
“There’s a big rush in the immediate aftermath, but we want to keep it going over the long haul,” she said.
The reading will begin at 6 p.m. at Canio’s Books, 290 Main Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, call 725-4926.
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