Artist
Georges Castera
Via Pétion-Ville, Haiti
Born in Port-au-Prince in 1936, Georges Castera is one of the most well known figures in Haitian contemporary poetry. He currently lives in Pétion-Ville, Haiti, where he works as a writer and editor. Poet, illustrator and literary director of “éditions Mémoire,” he writes in French, Creole and Spanish. He is a founding member of the Association of Haitian Writers.
Castera began to write at a young age. In the 1950s, he started publishing in Port-au-Prince newspapers and was warmly welcomed by elder writers. In 1956, he left for France and discovered a young generation excited to revolutionize the world. In his Surrealist and Marxist writings, Castera took the side of the downtrodden and sang of their daily struggles. For Castera, poetry and revolution were always compatible. His work is a revolt against injustice, misery and repression – and a bet on love and desire.
In the 1970s, Castera came to the United States and worked with theater directors Syto Cavé and Hervé Denis. He took an active role in the political organization of the Haitian community in New York and in the creation of the theater troupe Kouidor. After the fall of President Duvalier in 1986 and after 30 years of exile, Georges Castera returned to his native Port-au-Prince, where he helped train young poets, using lectures and public interventions, often with fellow writers and friends including Anthony Phelps and Syto Cavé.
