Transnational Series: Emmelie Prophète and Aidan Rooney

Join the for an in-store event with author Emmelie Prophète and translator Aidan Rooney to discuss and honor the release of .

An astonishing novel of raw beauty about gang life, sex work, and social media in Haiti.

Cécé La Flamme, as she’s known by her loyal Facebook friends, captures photographs of still bodies. Figures scorched and bruised, left to the rubble of the Cité of Divine Power. When she posts an image of a corpse, Cécé’s followers skyrocket. “Nothing got more attention than a good corpse that was nice and warm or already rotting.” Just beside visions of rot and neglect, she posts pictures of her toes, gullies crisscrossing the cité, and her own lips painted blue. With every image, Cécé seeks control and wants to create a frank, intimate record of the terror in her cité.

Cécé’s world begins and ends with the cité—a slum peopled by gangs, yelping kids, grandmothers, junkies, and preachers. The very gate that encloses the cité was constructed by militant gang members. First boss Freddy, then Joël, then Jules César rule the gang that holds the cité in a chokehold. Sharp, sincere, and desperate, Cécé cleaves life for herself out of social media, sex work, and attempts at friendship with other women. When an American journalist offers to buy the rights to Cécé’s photographs, she demands double the cash. When an abusive former client dies, she wears hot pink to his funeral. Emmelie Prophète’s novel is fierce, devastating, and suggestive—a record of a woman clawing back control.

Emmelie Prophète is the author of two poetry collections and six novels, the first of which, Les Testaments de Solitude, won the Grand Prix littéraire de l’Association des écrivains de langue française. Prophète’s most recent novel, Les Villages de Dieu, was awarded the Prix FetKann Maryse Condé, a prize that recognizes literature promoting human dignity from the largely postcolonial global South. Prophète, a former director of the National Library of Haiti, plays important roles in Haiti’s governance, bringing cultural curation and social justice to the fore. She lives in Port-au-Prince.

Translator Aidan Rooney is a teacher at Thayer Academy in Massachusetts. Rooney’s poetry collections include Go There, Tightrope, and Day Release. His translations from Haitian Kreyòl and French can be read elsewhere at AGNI, Asymptote, Carte Blanche, Tanbou, as well as in print in New American Writing. His honors include the Sunday Tribune Hennessy Cognac Award for New Irish Poetry and the Daniel Varoujan Award from the New England Poetry Club. He lives in Hingham, Massachusetts.

The Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith

The Transnational Series focuses on stories of migration, the intersection of politics and literature, and works in translation and is supported by the independent bookstore Brookline Booksmith. Subscribe to the Transnational Series newsletter for information on upcoming events, book recommendations, and more.

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Livestream!

Barring technical difficulty, this event will be livestreamed to our store YouTube channel.

Event Accesibility

This event will take place at street level. If possible, the event will be livestreamed to YouTube. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are limited. Please email [email protected] as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!

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Please note that any Brookline Booksmith in-person event may be canceled by the bookstore, publisher, or author based on concerns about health and safety around the time of the event. Wherever possible, any in-person appearance canceled due to COVID will be moved to the Brookline Booksmith Zoom as a webinar at the same date and time, and all tickets and registrations will be transferred to the online event. Book signing details may change. Refunds may be requested in the case of a virtual pivot or event cancelation.

Event Venue

Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, United States