Murielle Jassinthe

Of Haitian origin, Murielle Jassinthe grew up in Quebec City (Quebec) before settling in Iqaluit (Nunavut) in 2014. A member of the Canada Research Chair in African and Francophone Literatures (Université Laval), she is pursuing a bachelor’s and master’s degree in literary studies. In October 2010, her poems were published by Bruno Doucey in the anthology Terre de femmes, 150 ans de poésie féminine en Haïti. Winner of the Première Ovation grant from the Institut canadien de Québec in 2011, her love of words has led her to embrace poetry, short stories, narrative and essays, as well as playwriting and screenwriting. In 2014, she co-authored the essay “Nouvelle dramaturgie haïtienne et les mots du chaos” in the scientific journal Inter-lignes – Haïti : la révolte en mots et en couleurs, from the Institut catholique de Toulouse. She also published the literary short story “Nukaliak – le carnet”, in 2016, in Possibles magazine, as well as the poetic suite “Mon corps pour tout royaume”, in 2024, in no 11 of the literary magazine À ciel ouvert. Her poetry collection, Trouble optik, is awaiting publication. An interdisciplinary artist (writing, photography, performance and media arts), she combines creativity with social awareness. She also coordinated, hosted and performed at the Cabaret de la parole L’art de la résistance, in 2023, for the Maison natale de Louis Fréchette. In April-May 2024, she also completed an interdisciplinary artistic residency at Le Labo – center d’arts médiatiques francophone de Toronto for the project La peur du noir, combining poetry, music, performance and media arts. Finally, in October 2024, she performed as a poet and actor at the cultural and poetic evening celebrating the 50th anniversary of Le Temporel café, presented at the Maison de la littérature.

Her keen interest in the performing arts is confirmed by her experience in cultural mediation. She held the positions of Chair, Artistic Director, Director and Playwright at Théâtre Uiviit (2015-2018). Socially committed to promoting diversity, equality and inclusion, she became director of public relations at the Nunavut Black History Society (NBHS, 2019-2021). She was then driven by a desire to become more involved in social justice and the representation of Afrodescendant, Aboriginal, racialized and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. She also co-founded the BLM Organizing Committee working group at NBHS and the Nunavut Theater Company (2020). From 2021 to 2022, she will be the company’s president responsible for creative projects. Finally, since 2023, she has been a founding member and board member of the Regroupement des écrivain•e•s du Nord et de l’Ouest canadiens and the Chair of this organization since 2024.

Believing that pride of identity is best cultivated at an early age through the arts and cultural practices specific to a given culture, she founded a program exploring the performing arts. In 2019, she creates and volunteers live arts workshops in Masaka for the non-profit organization We Are Home Free. Inspired by this experience, she founded Boda Boda Camp, to offer theatrical workshops for young people based on the mindfulness approach and trauma-informed practices that celebrate participants’ cultural and linguistic identities.

In 2019, in keeping with her entrepreneurial spirit, she founded Black Lantern Inc. an interdisciplinary arts and culture consulting company whose mandate is to support artists and cultural organizations in their strategic and creative development through public relations, performing arts and multimedia. In 2021, in response to her passion for artistic creation, she launched Black Lantern Media Inc, dedicated to the production and dissemination of performing, screen and interdisciplinary arts that explore the possibilities of the body as a vehicle for individual and societal identity consciousness; that cultivate decolonizing approaches to the body and mind; and that ensure the representation of the experiences and realities of Afrodescendant, Aboriginal, racialized and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. »