An Evening with Author, Edwidge Danticat: Famed Haitian-American Writer Speaks at Brooklyn College

When I was an undergraduate in college I worked at a bookstore. While shelving books I familiarized myself with the authors' names, such as Edwidge Danticat's. Not knowing anything about the writer, I promised myself that I would one day give her a shot. That day came years later when one of my assigned books for my graduate student teaching seminar was "Krik?Krak!", one of her better known novels.

The book consists of nine tales that depict several generations of life both in Haiti and in coming to America. Danticat uses folk legends of stories passed down as one of her inspirations, and includes historical events such as the oppressive, terror-ridden reign of Papa Doc Duvalier and the secret police as one example. The book's combination of grim subject matter of reality, combined with the supernatural folk lore and heart of the Haitian characters touched me.

As a student teacher I'm also exposed to how Danticat's literature is handled in a high school classroom, and "Krik?Krak!" along with two other novels of hers, "The Farming of Bones" and "Breath Eyes Memory" are included on the shelves for students to select as a book report.

Given this, I was thrilled to discover that not only was there a possibility of her teaching at my college next year, but that she would speak at the school the night I attended class. My professor jumped at the opportunity to take our class to hear her, as did I. Everyone in attendance was encouraged to ask her questions about her latest book, her previous books, or her philosophy on writing and her subjects in general.

Ms.Danticat very graciously thanked all of us for attending, and began by reading three different passages from her new memoir "Brother, I'm Dying." The audience learned that the inspiration for the title came from her uncle, who in his 40's was diagnosed with throat cancer and believed he was about to meet his end. Upon collapsing into his brother's arms from his sickness one day he uttered "brother, I'm dying."

Ironically, he fought cancer, only to die at the hands of Homeland Security in a detention center in Miami at the age of 81. When it came time for questions one of the students asked if charges were being pressed against the detention center for the mistreatment of her uncle, or if the book would in any way open people's eyes to what's going on in our country. Ms. Danticat replied that that particular detention center was immune from any lawsuits, and that her uncle's case wouldn't be legitimate because of his age.

Most of the questions pertained to her writing. Ms. Danticat does not believe she is the "voice of Haiti", but that there are other great Haitian writers who deserve equal attention as herself. It is her wish that people do not read her books and generalize the Haitian culture, or any particular culture that's written about in literature.

She stresssed the importance of informed readers who, after finishing a book with questions, will do some research to gain a better understanding of a particular topic. Asked if she would ever change her focus and write about something entirely different, Ms. Danticat said that it's more important to write what you know, jokingly adding "I don't think I'm going to write about middle-class WASPS anytime soon."

For those interested in pursuing a career in writing, she offered plenty of suggestions. Any writer needs to work with certain perimeters, in her case that means coming up with a beginning and an end, working through to get to the meat in the middle. When she writes, and for her that usually means working on more than one piece at a time such as a novel and a short story, she finds most of her inspiration and time between 10 at night and 3 in the morning.

Danticat, who received her degrees from Columbia University's Barnard College and Brown University, respectively, has already taught creative writing courses at University of Miami and NYU. Perhaps her skills in the craft, which have already put her in the ranks of some of the greatest American writers, will inspire a new generation at a City University college within the next year.