Portrait of the actress
“A portrait! What could be more simple and more complex, more obvious and more profound.” ~ Charles Baudelaire. Monday evening found me sitting for a portrait for photographer Leslie Jean-Bart. As part of his latest creative series, Leslie requested each “sitter” come with a significant personal object. I chose a Venetian mask I […]
Lost and Found
” Lost and Found “ is the book of love. A CD of 25 poems chosen among the 74 in the collection is included with the text . There is an intimist tone to these poems and one can feel the poet giving herself entire to her devotion toward love. Contrary to the tone of […]
perfume
Smells can invoke memories, sexually arouse you, or even drive you mad… There are perfumes as fresh as children’s flesh, as sweet as oboes, as green as prairies, and others corrupted, rich and triumphant that sing the ecstasies of the mind and senses… writes French poet Baudelaire in Corrrespondances, while the great French perfumer Jacques […]
in the mood for love
Life often throws unexpected felicities down my path: a friend sends me the lyrics of an Osvaldo Farrés song: Quizás. You must know it; it’s love long hoped for, long awaited, long delayed… Quizás was a musical eternal of my girlhood, so the message arrived bearing an emotional charge greater than could be imagined. The […]
The woman in my bed….
I woke up with a French tune this morning: La femme qui est dans mon lit…The woman in my bed. Written by Moustaki for Edith Piaf when they were lovers, it is a song of praise for the older woman (she was nearly 20 years older than him). It brought back memories of one of […]
Enivrez-vous
Il faut être toujours ivre. Tout est là: c’est l’unique question. Pour ne pas sentir l’horrible fardeau du Temps qui brise vos épaules et vous penche vers la terre, il faut vous enivrer sans trêve. Mais de quoi? De vin, de poésie, ou de vertu, à votre guise. Mais enivrez-vous. Et si quelquefois, sur les […]
Maîtresse des Maîtresses
Au hasard d’une ruelle mal famée dans le Paris de 1845, Baudelaire rencontre Jeanne Duval. Cette belle mulâtresse que le poète appellera la Maîtresse des Maîtresses et la Vénus Noire était une actrice sensuelle et fantasque qui lui révélera l’amour charnel et les fêtes du corps, et lui inspirera les plus beaux poèmes des Fleurs […]
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) - translated into Spanish by Editorial ALBA as "Amores y cosas sin importancia" - all of which garnered rave reviews. Her writings are also featured in 3 anthologies published in France: "Cahier Haiti" (published by RAL'M-2009), "Terre de Femmes" (Editions Bruno Doucey-2011) "Revue Intranqu'îllités" (2012). 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 Masters from The New School for Social Research.