Born in Haiti, Dany Laferri猫re spent his childhood with his grand-mother, Da, in Petit鈥慓o芒ve. He began his career in journalism by reporting for the weekly Le Petit Samedi soir and for Radio Ha茂ti Inter. In 1976, following the assassination of his friend and fellow journalist Gasner Raymond, he fled the Duvalier dictatorship and settled in Quebec. After taking several different jobs in Montreal, he decided to try his hand at writing. In 1985, he published his first novel, How to Make Love to a Negro (Without Getting Tired), which garnered critical acclaim and launched his career as one of the most prominent representatives of a new generation of Quebecois writers. Dany Laferri猫re followed up this success with a string of novels, including Eroshima (1987), An Aroma of Coffee (1991), Dining with the Dictator (1992), and Why Must a Black Writer Write About Sex? (1993).
In 2009, Dany Laferri猫re published The Return, which solidified his reputation as an author of well-paced, powerful books. A string of prestigious awards followed, including the Prix M茅dicis, the Grand Prix du livre de Montr茅al, the Prix des libraires du Qu茅bec and the International Literature Award-Haus der Kulturen der Welt. In 2006, he took his first foray into the world of young adult fiction with a work entitled Je suis fou de Vava, which won him the Governor General鈥檚 Award.
His body of work has earned him honorary doctorates from universities in Quebec, France and the United States, as well as the Grand Prix Ludger-Duvernay, the Blue Metropolis International Grand Literary Prize, and the M茅rite du fran莽ais dans la culture presented by the Office qu茅b茅cois de la langue fran莽aise. He has also been named an Officer of the National Order of Quebec, Citizen of Honour of the City of Montreal, Officer of the Order of Canada, Commander of the French Legion of Honour, Commander of France鈥檚 Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Commander of the Francophonie鈥檚 Order of La Pl茅iade, and Companion of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres du Qu茅bec. But the crowning achievement of Dany Laferri猫re鈥檚 prolific career took place on December 12, 2013, when he was elected to the highly exclusive Acad茅mie fran莽aise, the French Academy, to occupy Seat 2, succeeding Hector Bianciotti.