About Marie Vieux-Chauvet
Marie Vieux-Chauvet (French pronunciation: [maʁi vjø ʃovɛ]; born Marie Vieux; 16 September 1916 – 19 June 1973) was a Haitian novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Her novels are considered by translator Myriam J. A. Chancy to be "by far the best-known works by a Haitian woman novelist". Born in Port-au-Prince, Chauvet grew up during the United States occupation of Haiti. She began writing at the age of 10 and attended the Annex of the Upper School for Teachers, receiving her certificate in 1933. During the late 1940s, she wrote several plays, and during the 1950s, she wrote her first three novels. She became involved with the literary collective Haïti Littéraire during the early 1960s. Chauvet sparked controversy in 1968 with the publication of Amour, Colere et Folie (transl. 'Love, Anger, Madness'), a collected trilogy of short novels. The book was met with disdain from Haitian critics and, for unclear reasons, suppressed and withdrawn from circulation. After the novel's suppression, facing threats from the regime of dictator François Duvalier, Chauvet went into exile in New York City, where she died from a brain tumor. Her fifth book, Les Rapaces (transl. 'Birds of Prey'), was published posthumously in 1986. Her work is noted by scholars such as Sophie Mariñez for its theatrical style, with common themes including gender, race, sexual violence, and Haitian Vodou. She has served as an inspiration for other Haitian writers such as Edwidge Danticat and Ghislaine Charlier.
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