HAITI: A Talk By International Correspondent and Author Michael Deibert

HAITI: A Talk By International Correspondent and Author Michael Deibert

CARIBBEAN ARTS GALLERY

720 Franklin Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70117

7:30 pm

Thursday, December 2, 2010

In the wake of this Sunday's presidential elections in Haiti, CARIBBEAN ARTS LTD. will host a talk entitled: “HAITI: The Long View” by distinguished international reporter MICHAEL DEIBERT, at the gallery, 720 Franklin Ave., New Orleans, at 7:30 p.m. on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2010.

Mr. Deibert was the on-the-ground correspondent for Reuters during the tumultuous last years of Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s presidency; more recently flew to Port-au-Prince a few days after the January 12th earthquake to report on the situation in the wake of the catastrophe. He is the author of the book, Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti. In his talk, Mr. Deibert will address “the long-term issues Haitians face in their battle to survive,” while making reference to “the historical and cultural connections between New Orleans and Haiti.”

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. For further information, contact David Baron at (504) 943-3858 / (917) 330-4446, or e-mail caribartlover@yahoo. com

BIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL DEIBERT

Michael Deibert is a journalist, author and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University. His writing on Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, Folha de Sao Paulo, Le Monde diplomatique and the Miami Herald, among other publications. In 2008, he was selected as a finalist for the Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism, sponsored by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, for his reporting from the Democratic Republic of Congo.



A featured commentator on international affairs on the BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, National Public Radio, and WNYC New York Public Radio, Mr. Deibert sparked a lifelong interest in Haiti with a visit there in 1997, and subsequently served as the Reuters correspondent in the country. Mr. Deibert's Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti praised by the Miami Herald as "a powerfully documented exposé" and by the San Antonio Express-News as "a compelling mix of reportage, memoir and social criticism." 

He recently completed a novel set in France and West Africa. His blog can be read at www.michaeldeibert.blogspot.com.