Interview with Lilian Nérette Louie

Interview with Liliane Nérette Louis, a storyteller, author, and cook with a strong interest in Haitian folk arts. The daughter of a doctor, Louis grew up in a large family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. After listening to her mother tell stories in Haitian Creole, Louis began to tell stories to her seven younger siblings, and then later to her own three children. She immigrated to New York in 1964 and settled in Miami in 1977. She earned a B.A. in Professional Studies and an M.A. in Human Resource Development from Barry University, and worked for many years as a Health Information Manager at Jackson Memorial Hospital before retiring in 1999. Since the 1980s, Louis has regularly done storytelling at festivals, schools, and other events. She served twice as the Master Artist in the Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program and she has twice won the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Folk Arts. She wrote When Night Falls, Kric! Krak! Haitian Folktales in 1999. Louis is also an accomplished cook who has taught courses in Haitian cooking through Miami-Dade College and WLRN. She is also very knowledgeable about the use of plants in Haitian culture.