. >> reporter: perhaps haiti's most celebrated writer is franketienne. >> i am essentially a poet. >>reporter: essentially a poet. >> essentially a poet; a poet who is writing novels, a poet who is painting, a poet who is singing. >> reporter: last year's earthquake brought down many walls in his home. support columns and remaining surfaces are now covered with his artwork. as a painter, franketienne, is known for his colorful abstract works, often portraying apocalyptic scenes. >> all my works, my artistic works, my literary works, announce the atmosphere of an apocalypse. >> reporter: so you think this is a premonition of the earthquake? >> a premonition, yes a premonition. >> reporter: he believes his most recent play, written two months before the quake, was also a forewarning. "le piege" or "the trap" takes place after a major disaster as survivors crouch in the rubble. a production was recently staged in paris by unesco-- the cultural arm of the united nations-- which also named franketienne one of its artists for peace. he first made his name writing during the horrors of the d