Born in Port-au-Prince on 26 December 1981, Jean Emmanuel Jacquet is a Haitian novelist, journalist, and ambassador for language & literature. He grew up in Camp-Perrin, in the municipality of Les Cayes. He later studied language & literature at the École Normale Supérieure in Port-au-Prince, and then at the École de Droit et des Sciences Économiques (EDSEG) in Gonaïves. He studied journalism at Excell (2008).
His talent for writing was evident from an early age, and he has become a voice of Haitian culture thanks to his contributions to important publications. He has worked as a journalist for Radio Television Nationale d'Haiti, and as a literary critic for the daily newspaper Le Matin. In 2015, he became Head of the Cultural Department of the newspaper Le National. He has also collaborated with the daily newspaper Le Nouvelliste, the magazines Haiti Liberté, Cultures Sud and Parole en Archipel, and the publisher Chasseur Abstrait. In June 2013, he won the Jacques Roche Prize for Cultural Journalism, which is firm proof of his talent for journalistic writing and his dedication to Haitian literature and culture. Jean Emmanuel Jacquet is the co-founder of SiBelle Haiti. Established in 2019, it is an online press agency which informs about and promotes Haiti.
As an author, Jacquet has published six major works. Through his work as a writer and journalist, he aims to promote Haitian culture and improve the daily life of its inhabitants. His first novel, Homo Sensuel, was published in 2013 by Éditions Ruptures. It addresses sexual abuse in the ecclesiastical world, and the story is told from a victim’s perspective in an almost theatrical monologue. Quartiers d´oublis, on the other hand, is an epistolary novel about modern Haitian society.
For Jacquet, his role as a mentor for young authors is essential and he does not hesitate to dedicate his time as a member of three organisations: the Éditions Ruptures reading committee, Atelier Jeudi Soir led by Lyonel Trouillot, and Centre PEN Haiti.
He has also served as co-chairman of the Prix du Jeune Journaliste Francophone (Young Francophone Journalism Prize), which was organised for several years by the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (International Organisation of La Francophonie – OIF), coordinator of the Jacmel International Book Fair, and chairman of the jury for the Gary Victor News Prize. In 2018, he received the Excellence Award from the Groupe de Réflexion et d’Action pour une Haïti Nouvelle (Reflection and Action Group for a New Haiti – GRAHN) for his work to promote social justice, civic engagement and sustainable development in Haiti.
In 2020, he was appointed Director General of the Direction Nationale du Livre (National Book Directorate – DNL), a position that allows him to set up a Haitian book distribution policy and to strengthen Centres de Lecture et d’Animation Culturelle (Reading and Cultural Promotion Centres – CLAC), promoting the proximity and decentralisation of books and knowledge in rural parts of Haiti.
His book Trapèze was recently shortlisted for the Montreal Francophone Poetry Festival Prize.
In July 2021, he was appointed Minister of Culture and Communication.
From 2011 to 2019, Jean Emmanuel Jacquet was a member of the Communications Office of the Haitian President. In 2014, he became Chief of Staff for Andress Appolon, Director General of Electricité d'Haïti (EDH). In 2018, Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant appointed him to his cabinet. He is a former consultant (2017) for the Ministry of Communication.