The Most Famous
WRITERS from Haiti
This page contains a list of the greatest Haitian Writers. The pantheon dataset contains 5,755 Writers, 5 of which were born in Haiti. This makes Haiti the birth place of the 83rd most number of Writers behind Montenegro and North Korea.
Top 5
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Haitian Writers of all time. This list of famous Haitian Writers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Frankétienne (1936 - )
With an HPI of 48.27, Frankétienne is the most famous Haitian Writer. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages on wikipedia.
Frankétienne (born Franck Étienne on April 12, 1936, in Ravine-Sèche, Haiti) is a Haitian writer, poet, playwright, painter, musician, activist and intellectual. He is recognized as one of Haiti's leading writers and playwrights of both French and Haitian Creole, and is "known as the father of Haitian letters". As a painter, he is known for his colorful abstract works, often emphasizing the colors blue and red. He was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2009, made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et Lettres (Order of the Arts and Letters), and was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2010.
2. René Depestre (1926 - )
With an HPI of 47.20, René Depestre is the 2nd most famous Haitian Writer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
René Depestre (born 29 August 1926, Jacmel, Haiti) is a Haitian poet and former communist activist. He is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. He lived in Cuba as an exile from the Duvalier regime for many years and was a founder of the Casa de las Américas publishing house. He is best known for his poetry.
3. Jacques Roumain (1907 - 1944)
With an HPI of 46.99, Jacques Roumain is the 3rd most famous Haitian Writer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Jacques Roumain (French pronunciation: [ʒak ʁumɛ̃]; June 4, 1907 – August 18, 1944) was a Haitian writer, politician, and advocate of Marxism. He is considered one of the most prominent figures in Haitian literature. Poet Langston Hughes, an African-American, translated some of Roumain's works, including Gouverneurs de la Rosée (Masters of the Dew). It was also adapted to film.
4. Dany Laferrière (1953 - )
With an HPI of 46.31, Dany Laferrière is the 4th most famous Haitian Writer. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
Dany Laferrière (French pronunciation: [dani lafɛʁjɛʁ]; born Windsor Kléber Laferrière, 13 April 1953) is a Haitian-Canadian novelist and journalist who writes in French. He was elected to seat 2 of the Académie française on 12 December 2013, and inducted in May 2015.
5. Edwidge Danticat (1969 - )
With an HPI of 31.40, Edwidge Danticat is the 5th most famous Haitian Writer. Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Edwidge Danticat (Haitian Creole pronunciation: [ɛdwidʒ dãtika]; born January 19, 1969) is a Haitian-American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory, was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written or edited several books and has been the recipient of many awards and honors. As of the fall of 2023, she will be the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.
Pantheon has 5 people classified as writers born between 1907 and 1969. Of these 5, 4 (80.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living writers include Frankétienne, René Depestre, and Dany Laferrière. The most famous deceased writers include Jacques Roumain. As of April 2022, 1 new writers have been added to Pantheon including Jacques Roumain.
Living Writers
Go to all Rankings
Frankétienne
1936 - Present
HPI: 48.27
René Depestre
1926 - Present
HPI: 47.20
Dany Laferrière
1953 - Present
HPI: 46.31
Edwidge Danticat
1969 - Present
HPI: 31.40
