Join Miami Book Fair for First Draft, a monthly series where writers get social, share their work, and leave with great stories.

Instructor: Fabienne Josaphat

Theme: The Sound of Silence

FABIENNE JOSAPHAT was born and raised in Haiti and graduated with an MFA in creative writing from Florida International University. Of her first novel, Dans nan lonbraj Baron an (Unnamed Press), Edwidge Danticat said, “it is an irresistible read about the nature of good and evil, terror and injustice, and ultimately triumph and love.” Her second novel, Wayòm Pa Gen Demen, is the winner of the 2023 PEN Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and was longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize. The New York Times called it “Muscular, searing … a novel for our times.” Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver said “Wayòm Pa Gen Demen will bring the fierce vision of the Black Panthers to new generations of readers, adding some stunning context to the modern Black Lives Matter movement.” In addition to fiction, Josaphat writes nonfiction and poetry as well as screenplays. Her work has been featured in The African American Review, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, The Master’s Review, The Caribbean Writer, and more. She lives in South Florida.