Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti in 1969 and moved to the United States when she was 12. She is the author of two novels, two collections of stories, two books for young adults, and two nonfiction books, one of which, Brother, I\u2019m Dying, was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. In 2009, she received a MacArthur Genius Fellowship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, Edwidge talks about her latest opus, Create Dangerously, a collection of essays based on a series of lectures she delivered at Princeton University last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kam Williams<\/strong>: Hi, Edwidge, thanks for the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Edwidge Danticat:<\/strong> I hope you don\u2019t mind that I have my baby daughter with me. Usually, I make some sort of arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: No need to apologize. I once interviewed Soledad O\u2019Brien while she was surrounded by her kids in the kitchen, and the children only added to the experience. First, let me say I enjoyed Create Dangerously immensely. When did you arrive at an understanding that your aesthetic coincided with that of Albert Camus in his essay of the same name which served as the inspiration for your book\u2019s title?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: [Laughs] You ask that question in such a very, very serious way. I\u2019ve always enjoyed the work of Camus, and found it very thought-provoking, especially his novels. But less universally read are his essays which are very beautiful. I read that one when I was in college and starting to think seriously about writing. He always seemed to express more ambivalence than certainty. That\u2019s certainly how I feel, that this is all a kind of quest, and that things change in terms of what you\u2019re trying to accomplish as you go along. I like the fact that he talks about both sides and the ambivalence of artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: FSU grad Laz Lyles says: I heard a New Yorker Magazine podcast that mentioned you and Junot Diaz in tandem as the frontrunner \u201cimmigrant\u201d writers. I\u2019d like to know if there are any other writers we should be looking out for who are creating and writing in this tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: [Laughs] I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s true that we\u2019re at the forefront. I think we are just part of a big and emerging group. Two of the people I\u2019m most actively reading right now are Dinaw Mengestu and Jhumpa Lahiri. Also, Tiphanie Yanique who wrote an absolutely amazing novella and collection of short stories called \u201cHow to Escape from a Leper Colony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Rudy Lewis says: I have read several of your books and think that you are the finest and most courageous writer living today, on par with the late South African poet Dennis Brutus. Do you think it a waste of energy to protest for the return of President Aristide to Haiti when it is almost certain that the United States, Canada, and France will not allow his return?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: Rudy is right that it would be very difficult for Aristide to return as a leader because the larger powers won\u2019t allow it, but I don\u2019t think the people in Haiti who support his return would consider it a waste of energy because he is a citizen of Haiti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Rudy also says: South Africa was a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre. Why do you think that Haiti has not risen to that level in the African American political imagination, in their churches and other social and political arenas? Is it the problem of language or some other factors?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: There has long been an ideological and intellectual engagement with Haiti as the first Black republic by people like Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, Randall Robinson, Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Katherine Dunham, Frederick Douglass and Ntozake Shange. And since the earthquake, we\u2019ve witnessed a very visceral reaction and a new wave of engagement on the part of many African-American communities all across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Speaking of the earthquake, Heritage Konpa Publisher Rene Davis wants to know if there\u2019s an earthquake relief charity you recommend,<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: There are two. Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (http:\/\/haitianwomen.wordpress.com\/<\/a>) has been on the ground since the beginning. The majority of Haitian households are female-headed because of politics and migration. The other is the Lambi Fund of Haiti. (http:\/\/www.lambifund.org\/<\/a>) Both work primarily in areas outside of Port-au-Prince which get less aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Rene also wants to know whether you have any political aspirations in Haiti, ala Wyclef Jean?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: No, no, no, no, no! The only thing I will ever run for is a bus. [LOL]<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Harriet Pakula Teweles says: First of all, I want to say how very much I appreciated The Dew Breaker. How has winning a MacArthur Award and being dubbed a genius affected your writing process?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: It hasn\u2019t made it easier, strangely enough. [Chuckles] Writing is the same, no matter what else happened with your previous book, because ultimately you have to sit down with a blank page and wrestle with an idea. It hasn\u2019t changed that process in terms of the anxiety. Once you\u2019re involved in the work, it\u2019s really just you and the characters and the words. What does change is that the more you do it, the more practice you have, the less stressful writing is. You know how that is, Kam<\/p>\n\n\n\n KW<\/strong>: Yeah. What did being named an Oprah Book Club selection do for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n ED<\/strong>: It gave me a lot of time. What it did was allow me the time to concentrate on writing so I did not have to do so many other jobs. The greatest gift anyone can give to a writer is time, as you very well know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n