IN MEMORIAM

Phebus Etienne
September 5, 1964 - March 31, 2007

Phebus Etienne was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and spent her childhood in East Orange, NJ. She earned degrees at Rider University and New York University, and held jobs in a variety of fields—legal publishing, public relations, education and finance. She recently completed a full-length manuscript of poems, Chainstitching, and her powerful work found publication in such places as American Poet; The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora in the United States; Making Callaloo: 25 Years of Black Literature; Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem's First Decade; Paterson Literary Review; Lips; and Crab Orchard Review. She was the recipient of a Poetry Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

As a proud Cave Canem fellow (1999, 2001 and 2002) and tireless volunteer for the organization, Phebus was beloved and admired. She was variously described by colleagues as "loving, fragile and fierce all at once," "generous, frank and funny," and "in it for the long haul." Called a "poet of powerful articulation" and "intense visual acuity" by Rodney Jones, her verse commanded widespread respect. Toi Derricotte has called the experience of reading Phebus's poems "like drinking clear water." In American Poet: The Journal of the Academy of American Poets, Volume 31, Jones wrote, "Always lucid, Etienne's poetry is at once salutary and elegiac. Like Milosz's, it has a complex business to conduct, often referring to the personal, social, and religious elements of a life in exile; of mixed identities and conflicting obligations..."

Phebus's generosity, luminous smile, personal courage and extraordinary voice will be remembered.

Tribute gifts in Phebus's name may be sent to Cave Canem Foundation, Inc. by post or on line: http://www.cavecanempoets.org/pages/donate.php. These fully tax-deductible donations will provide scholarship support for Cave Canem retreat fellows.

Copyright © 1997-2007 by Cave Canem Foundation, Inc.

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