J.O. Haselhoef

About

I take the responsibility as a narrative nonfiction writer to merge truthful content with writing instruments that hold the readers’ interest.

My English degree led me to marketing and raising funds for 25 years. I pursued, in 2000, a Masters in Fine Arts, with a focus on Social Art — a practice that is collaborative, often participatory and involves people as the medium or material of the work. Words played a significant role in its documentation. 

In 2007, I co-founded Yonn Ede Lot, a nonprofit organization in Haiti. Our partnership with Haitian associations to encourage leadership became the subject of my book, “Give & Take: Doing Our Damnedest NOT to be Another Charity in Haiti,” published 2015.

I continue to write about people and their communities, here and abroad, using reported or personal essays as the primary form.

• As the columnist for nonprofit stories of The Haitian Times, this newspaper has published both my reported and Solutions Journalism stories.
• My essays appear in various literary journals including HerStry, Woods Reader and Southeast Fiction.
• I am honored to have work in anthologies published by Wising Up and Evening Street Press among others.
• Rotary International, Engineers Without Borders, Safe Water Network and Youthaiti and others have included my blogs on their websites.