The Poetry Basis presents “A Day with Aimé Césaire” on Saturday, Could 7, 2022, 2:00pm–3:00pm. The occasion will illuminate Aimé Césaire’s poetry, performs, and impression by means of a sturdy dialogue on Césaire’s play, TheTragedy of King Christophe, translated from the French by Paul Breslin and Rachel Ney, and directed by Lanise Antoine Shelley. The panel contains main Haitian artists and Césaire students, translators, and a cultural anthropologist with uncommon views on the depth and complexity of Aimé Césaire. This occasion takes place at The Poetry Basis, positioned at 61 West Superior Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. Register right here.
Set in a interval of uncertainty after the Haitian Revolution of 1804, the play follows the true story of Henri Christophe, a common in Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ military who declared himself King in 1811. This poetic recounting of the primary King of Haiti, The Home Theatre of Chicago’s North American premiere of the work, breathes new understanding into Haitian historical past with music and dance. Tickets and particulars accessible right here.
Jean Appolon (he/him) is the co-founder and creative director of Jean Appolon Expressions. Appolon is a profitable Haitian choreographer and grasp instructor primarily based in Boston and Port-au-Prince. He obtained his earliest coaching and efficiency alternatives in Port-au-Prince with the Viviane Gauthier Dance Firm and the Folkloric Ballet of Haiti. Appolon continued his dance training within the US on the Harvard and Radcliffe Dance Program, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Joffrey American Ballet Faculty, the place he graduated with a B.A. from a joint diploma program supplied by The New Faculty. Appolon has additionally carried out with Elma Lewis Productions (Black Nativity), Marlene Silva, North Star Ballet Firm, Black Door Dance Firm, and the Atlantic Metropolis Ballet Firm. https://jeanappolonexpressions.org/
James Arnold (he/him) was professor of French on the College of Virginia from 1966–2007. Whereas on the college, he launched a brand new ebook sequence on Caribbean and African Literature translated from French (CARAF), in addition to the New World Research sequence. Certainly one of two works he printed in 2020, La littérature antillaise entre histoire et mémoire, 1935-1995 obtained a prize from the French Academy of Abroad Science. Arnold co-translated The Full Poetry of Aimé Césaire with Clayton Eshleman; he additionally coordinated with the Institut des Textes et Manuscrits Modernes on the École Normale Supérieure on a genetic version of Césaire’s literary work, printed by Éditions du CNRS in Paris. He’s at the moment translating Aimé Césaire: Genèse et transformations d’une poétique (Ok&N, Würzburg) into English.
Paul Breslin (he/him) is Professor of English, Emeritus at Northwestern College. Along with the important research The Psycho-Political Muse: American Poetry For the reason that Nineteen Fifties and No one’s Nation: Studying Derek Walcott, he has printed two collections of poetry: You Are Right here and Between My Eye and the Mild. With Rachel Ney, he has co-authored an annotated translation of Aimé Césaire’s La Tragédie du roi Christophe, and is now engaged on two tasks: The Third Poison: A Meditation on Anger, and Fireplace Tree, an almost accomplished third quantity of poems. He lives along with his spouse, Jeanne Breslin, in Evanston, Illinois.
Rachel Ney (she/her) is a senior lecturer of French at Southern Methodist College, the place she teaches French cinema, literature, and civilization. Her analysis explores the relations between historical past, reminiscence, and the picture to determine potential relations between France, Mexico, and the US. Her curiosity in intercultural issues could be present in her analysis on the processes of translation of Cormac McCarthy’s border novels from English into French. With Professor Breslin, they printed a revised translation of Aime Césaire’s The Tragedy of King Christophe in 2015.
Dr. Reginald Dewight Patterson (he/him) is a scholar, performing artist, and cartographer, born in Frankfurt, Germany. Patterson obtained his Ph.D. from the Romance Research Division at Duke; he teaches French and Haitian Creole, and speaks Italian and Spanish. With a B.M. in viola from Oberlin Conservatory, Patterson has toured and carried out internationally, together with within the US, Guadeloupe, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Italy, and Germany. Patterson accomplished residencies on the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac Museum and the Cité Internationale des Artistes; the Mississippi Senate, Home of Representatives, and Governor have acknowledged Patterson for his ‘worldwide writing and musical residency in Paris.’
Lanise Antoine Shelley (she/her) is the manufacturing creative director of The Home, in addition to a Haitian actress, director, and playwright. Shelley hosts the podcast When They Have been Younger: Amplifying Voices of Adoptees accessible on all main platforms together with her web site. Her appearing credit embody Chicago Fireplace, Empire, Chicago Med, Discovery World, Macbeth HD, and Goodman Theatre’s Faculty Ladies; Or, The African Imply Ladies Play. Chosen directing credit embody Redbull, Paramount Theater, Rising Solar Firm, sixteenth St, Lookingglass Theatre, Akvavit Theatre, Voices & Faces Mission, DePaul College, and Stratford Shakespeare Pageant. She holds an MFA from ART/MXAT at Harvard College and certificates in Classical Theatre from each BADA. Her honors included fellowships from Stratford Shakespeare Pageant, Victory Gardens Theater, and the Drama League. [. . .]
For extra data, see https://www.poetryfoundation.org/occasions/157600/poetry-theatre-a-day-with-aime-cesaire
[Shown above: Clockwise from top left: Jean Appolon, James Arnold, Paul Breslin, Rachel Ney, Dr. Reginald Dewight Patterson, Lanise Antoine Shelley.]