i am woman
( in honor of my mother who could not say these words but lives them through me) who owns me who owns my laughter i say no one a joyousness of bells resounds deep inside me innumerable seas rise in me wondrous and fierce my lavishness of spirit inexhaustible i rejoice in the world michele voltaire marcelin
All of a sudden
Everything happened all of a sudden. All of a sudden daylight beat down on the earth; There was the sky all of a sudden; All of a sudden steam began to rise from the soil. There were tendrils all of a sudden, buds all of a sudden. And there were fruits all of a sudden. [...]
Summer fling
It was a June-blue sunday, a perfect summer-fling day; a music-filled day with poetry and song and friends and laughter; and our spirits were high and the energy was electrifying and it was summer, and we were starting it with a blast at our first Toukouleur Jazz & Poetry Brunch. Wish you had been there [...]
being human
this being human is a guest house. every morning a new arrival. a joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. welcome and entertain them all! even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. he may be [...]
defender la alegría
defender la alegría como una trinchera defenderla del escándalo y la rutina de la miseria y los miserables de las ausencias transitorias y las definitivas defender la alegría como un principio defenderla del pasmo y las pesadillas de los neutrales y de los neutrones de las dulces infamias y los graves diagnósticos defender la [...]
Michèle Voltaire Marcelin is a poet/writer, performer and painter who was born and raised in Haiti, sojourned in Chile, and currently lives in the United States. The publication of her first novel “La Désenchantée” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2006) was followed by its Spanish translation “La Desencantada” and two other books of poetry and prose: “Lost and Found” and “Amours et Bagatelles” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2009), both of which garnered rave reviews.
Her writings are also featured in a 500 page anthology of Haitian Literature by RAL’M, the French Revue d’Art, Littérature et Musique (2009). She speaks and writes fluently French, English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
She has a BFA from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at CUNY and a MS from The New School for Social Research.