Our Team

Like many writers, Joanne Hyppolite has two identities. Weekdays she is Dr. Joanne Hyppolite, the Chief Curator at the Museum of HistoryMiami. On nights, weekends, and stolen work days, she transforms into writer, published author and lover of literature. Joanne has published two popular middle-grade novels for children:  Seth and Samona, which won the 1994 Marguerite DeAngeli prize for New Children’s Fiction, and Ola Shakes It Up.  Her short stories have also been published In the Caribbean Writer and The Butterfly’s Way:  Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora.  She holds Ph.D. in literature from the University of Miami and an M.A. in Afro-American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. An experienced public speaker, she lectures widely at schools, libraries, and conferences on African-American and Caribbean culture and children’s literature.   

Maude Heurtelou is a Haitian novelist and storyteller, better known for her two Haitian-Creole novels Lafami Bonplezi and Sezisman!, both translated into English and published by Educa Vision.  She is also the author of 30 children books in Haitian-Creole, some translated into French, some, in English or both.  She holds a Master’s degree in Nutrition and Public Health and has worked in Haiti, Guatemala, Canada and the United States.  Through the Florida Association for Voluntary Actions in the Caribbean, she has received awards from Governors Lawton Chiles and Jeb Bush for over ten years of dedication to volunteering in Haiti in the areas of education, public health and life improvement.  She has developed audio, videos and printed educational materials for many international agencies, including the Center for Disease Control and the University of South Florida.  As a resident of South Florida, she is currently involved in Family Prime Time Reading and Storytelling in local libraries.  Maude is the current Vice-President of Educa Vision, Inc, a multicultural publishing company.

Liliane Nerette-Louis is the author of When Night Falls, Kric! Krac! (Libraries Unlimited,1999). She holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Development and Administration from Barry University. Well known as a mèt kont, or master storyteller, Ms. Louis has presented programs in schools, libraries, and universities across the country. She is also the author of Zenga (2001), a children’s book, and she co-authored Pumpkin Soup is for Sunday (2010) with Dr. Cheryl Holder.  Louis received the 2006 Life Achievement Award from the state of Florida, Department of Cultural Affairs.

Michèle-Jessica (M.J.) Fievre is the author of several mystery novels and children’s books in French, including Sortilège Haïtien (2011). She obtained her MFA from the Creative Writing program at Florida International University. Her short stories and poems in English have appeared in The Beautiful Anthology (TNB Books, 2012), Haiti Noir (Akashic Books, 2011), The Mom Egg, The Southeast Review, and The Caribbean Writer. M.J. is the founding editor of Sliver of Stone Magazine, and a regular contributor to The Nervous Breakdown.  She is also a proud member of the Miami Poetry Collective, famous for its Poem Depot, a regular feature of Wynwood’s Second Saturday Art Walk.

Fabienne Sylvia Josaphat is the author of Requiem pour Anaise, a novel published in Nice, France in 2002. Her short stories have appeared in various journals and magazines, including The Caribbean Writer, Mandala Journal and The Masters Review. Fabienne holds a B.A. in English with a specialization in Professional Writing from Barry University. The Fiction Editor for Sliver of Stone Magazine, Fabienne is currently working as a teacher’s assistant at Florida International University, where she is entering her third year of the MFA in Creative Writing.

Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti, and currently lives in Homestead, Florida with her children and husband. She earned a bachelor’s from Tufts University and a master’s in English from UMass Boston.  Her most recent publications include “Kako Blood” in The Caribbean Writer, 2011; “Mercy at the Gate” in the acclaimed anthology Haiti Noir, edited by Edwidge Danticat in 2011; “Haiti: a Cigarette Burning at both Ends” published in Butterfly Ways: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, edited by Edwidge Danticat.  Her children’s books include Beauty Walks in Nature (2010), Songs from a Tower (2009), Keeper of the Sky (2007), One More Daughter, America (2006), Daughter of the House (2005), A Fish Called Tanga (2003), I’ll Fly Away (1999).  Her short stories published in magazines include “The Mango Tree” in Compost Magazine (1994); “Light Chocolate Child” in Onyx (1995), and “Soup Joumou: Diary of a Mad Woman,” in African Home front Magazine (1996).