Governor General Michaelle Jean presents Dany Laferriere, of Montreal, with the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature Text during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Wednesday December 13, 2006. Laferriere has become the first Quebecer and the first Haitian to be elected to the prestigious Academie francaise as an immortal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand
December 12, 2013 - 11:13 AM
MONTREAL - Author Dany Laferriere has become the first Quebecer and the first Haitian to be elected to the prestigious Academie francaise as an immortal.
Laferriere joins the ranks of such literary legends as Victor Hugo and Eugene Ionesco in receiving what is considered the highest honour in the French language.
The goals of the Academie francaise are to maintain the purity of the French language and promote eloquence in the arts and sciences. Its 40 members are elected for life.
Born in Haiti in April 1953, Laferriere came to Canada in 1976.
He published his first novel, "Comment faire l'amour avec un negre sans se fatiguer," in 1985. It was translated in 1987 into an English version — "How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired."
He won a Governor General's Literary Award in 2006 for his first children's novel, "Je suis fou de Vava."
Laferriere has also written a number of novels and essays and he won the Medicis prize in 2009 for "L'enigme du retour."
He was elected to the Academie francaise in the first round and will assume its second chair.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013