The Colour of Dawn

Yanick Lahens lives in Haiti. She was born in Port au Prince before moving to France where she was educated at the Sorbonne. Her writing is uncompromising in its portrayal of life in the Caribbean. She occupies a very particular position in Haitian literature, because of her independence of spirit as a writer and the authority she has gained from her engagement on the ground. Alongside Dany Laferrière and Lionel Trouillot she is one of Haiti’s most prominent authors. Professor of literature, she dedicates a large part of her time to a foundation set up to train young Haitians in sustainable development.

This novel was first published as La Coleur de l’aube by Sabine Wespieser Editeur, which won the RFO 2009 award, Prix littéraire Richelieu de la Francophonie 2009 
and Prix Millepages 2008. She also won the Leipzig Book Fair 2002 Literaturpreis. She has published another novel, Dans la maison du père (Le Serpent à plumes, 2000), and books of essays on place (particularly Haiti).

See also 3 minute film made by Festival des Etonnants Voyageurs 2010, with Lahens talking about La Couleur de l’aube: www.dailymotion.com/video/xdjed3_yanick-lahens-la-couleur-de-l-aube_news

Alison Layland is a freelance translator from French, German and Welsh into English. She graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with a BA in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, and Modern & Medieval Languages. She is also a full member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, Society of Authors and an Associate of the Welsh Academi. She won the Oxfam Cymru 2010 Translation Challenge with a translation of a short story by Yanick Lahens; this led to a translation of a novel, The Colour of Dawn, by the same author. In addition to her translations, Layland is a published writer of her own works, including short stories and novels. Her first novel, Someone Else’s Conflict was published in 2014. Born in Newark, Layland has lived in various parts of the UK, but settled in mid-Wales in 1997. Layland’s passion lies in language: she won Welsh Learner of the Year in the 1999 National Eisteddfod and is currently teaching herself Croatian.