The "En Lisant" festival devotes its 11th edition to women's heroism and Yanick Lahens

The 11th edition of the En Lisant Theatre Festival will take place from November 19 to 25, 2026, in Port-au-Prince around the theme "The invisibilized heroism of women," according to Le Nouvelliste and Vant Bèf Info. It is devoted to the work of Haitian writer Yanick Lahens, the guest of honour.

The organizers presented the programme at a press conference on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, at the Centre culturel Pyepoudre. The festival is run by the Brigade d'intervention théâtrale-Haïti (BIT-Haïti), Le National specifies, though it gives different dates, November 9 to 15.

A quiet heroism

The festival's artistic director, Éliezer Guérismé, explained that the theme refers to the little-seen heroism of ordinary women, who face everyday hardships, devise survival strategies and pass on memory and values. In his view, this heroism is not measured by how spectacular a gesture is. He recalled that the festival was created to put playwriting back at the centre of literary debate.

Lahens adapted by young writers

Several of Yanick Lahens's texts will be adapted for the stage by young Haitian writers. Stéphana Dorval, the festival's programming assistant, is adapting the novel La Couleur de l'aube, her first experience writing for the theatre: "I had to learn that adapting is not transporting," she said. Joubert Joseph is adapting the short story La folie était venue avec la pluie.

Yanick Lahens welcomed this new generation and stressed the role of creation in a country battered by violence: "Art allows us to be that oxygen," she said.

Attending the press conference, French Ambassador to Haiti Gauthier Lekens praised the chosen theme and noted that the French Embassy and the Institut français d'Haïti have supported the festival since its beginnings. Paris-based Haitian singer and actress Lina Saer is announced among the participants.