Haitian Beatz

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An Interview With Poet Prosper Sylvain Jr. (Makendal)
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Prosper Sylvain Jr. (Makendal ) is a deeply conscious poet/spoken word artist—reading his works and watching him performs can only suggest the wide talent of his writing. His writing style is both penetrating

and unflinching in its portrayals of Haiti’s social and cultural state, as well as delightfully unpredictable. A prodigious reader, Makendal’s writing takes us to a poetic world filled with historical figures and vivid facts that bubble up from all sector of Haitian society. He’s smart,  and he doesn’t shine away from demonstrating his outright love for Haiti and a healthy distrustfulness of its current leaders. Filled with powerful, traditional images, his poems reaches uncharted territories and surprise the reader with their lush language and generous imagination.

How did you start writing?

I started writing when I was fourteen years old. my mother was an educator both in Haiti and here and she promoted education as well as reading and writing. It became a standard at home. She was also a poet and so I think I had it in my DNA.


How would you describe your art?

I don’t know how to describe it. I leave it to others to draw there own opinion.

Who influences you artistically?

It’s not “who” influences, but “what”. I admire various artists and their work but what usually influences me are events around the world as well as in my own immediate surroundings. Sometimes all it takes is a picture, a painting or a scene caught by my eyes or ears to be the catalyst for my pen.

What connections do you see between the world of acting and the world of Spoken Word?
There is a major connection between both worlds because both the actor and the poet depict or tell a story. In spoken word or academic poetry, the performer or writer sometimes must embody the theme that he or she is trying to convey. unfortunately, in poetry, sometimes the poet is seen as the theme or the character and is not removed by the reader or audience from the character, theme or setting.

As a spoken word artist, is it almost expected for you to be socially conscious?

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