Edwidge Danticat
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Edwidge Danticat (; born January 19, 1969) is a Haitian American novelist and short story writer. Her first novel, '' Breath, Eyes, Memory'', was published in 1994 and went on to become an Oprah's Book Club selection. Danticat has since written or edited several books and has been the recipient of many awards and honors. Her work has dealt with themes of national identity, mother-daughter relationships, and diasporic politics. In 2023, she was named the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.


Early life

Danticat was born in
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...
,
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
. When she was two years old, her father André immigrated to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, to be followed two years later by her mother Rose. This left Danticat and her younger brother, also named André, to be raised by her aunt and uncle. When asked in an interview about her traditions as a child, she included storytelling, church, and constantly studying school material as all part of growing up. Although her formal education in Haiti was in French, she spoke
Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; , ; , ), or simply Creole (), is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language spoken by 10 to 12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it ...
at home. While still in Haiti, Danticat began writing at nine years of age. She later wrote another story about her immigration experience for the magazine ''New Youth Connections'', "A New World Full of Strangers". In the introduction to ''Starting With I'', an anthology of stories from the magazine, Danticat wrote: "When I was done with the mmigrationpiece, I felt that my story was unfinished, so I wrote a short story, which later became a book, my first novel: '' Breath, Eyes, Memory''...Writing for ''New Youth Connections'' had given me a voice. My silence was destroyed completely, indefinitely." After graduating from
Clara Barton High School Clara Barton High School for Health Professions is a public high school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, that teaches from 9th - 12th grade. It is located at 901 Classon Avenue, across from the Brooklyn Muse ...
in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, New York, Danticat entered
Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...
in New York City where she graduated
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
in 1990. Initially she had intended to study to become a nurse, but her love of writing won out and she received a BA in
French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
. She received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
in 1993. Danticat is a strong advocate for issues affecting Haitians abroad and at home. In 2009, she lent her voice and words to '' Poto Mitan: Haitian Women Pillars of the Global Economy'', a documentary about the impact of globalization on five women from different generations.


Personal life

Danticat married Fedo Boyer in 2002. She has two daughters, Mira and Leila. Although Danticat resides in the United States, she still considers Haiti home. To date, she still visits Haiti from time to time and has always felt as if she never left it.


Themes

Three themes are prominent in various analyses of Edwidge Danticat's work: national identity, mother-daughter relationships, and diasporic politics.


National identity

Scholars of Danticat's work frequently examine the theme of national identity. In ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'', Danticat explores the relationship between women and the nationalist agenda of the state during the Duvalier regime. Throughout the novel, as generations of women "test" their daughters, by penetrating their vaginas with a finger to confirm their virginity, they "become enforcers," or proxies, of the state's "violence and victimization" of black women's bodies (376–377) similar to the paramilitary secret police Tonton Macoutes. However, while the women of ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'' replicate "state-sanctioned" control and violation of women's bodies through acts of violence (375), they also "disrupt and challenge the masculinist, nationalist discourse" of the state by using their bodies "as deadly weapons" (387) Evidence for this claim can be drawn from Martine's suicide, seen as a tragic exhibition of freedom, releasing her body, and mind, from its past traumas Additionally, the novel demonstrates some inherent difficulties of creating a diasporic identity, as illustrated through Sophie's struggle between uniting herself with her heritage and abandoning what she perceives to be the damaging tradition of 'testing,' suggesting the impossibility of creating a resolute creolized personhood i Finally, Danticat's work, The Farming of Bones, speaks to the stories of those who survived the 1937 massacre, and the effects of that trauma on Haitian identity v Overall, Danticat makes known the history of her nation while also diversifying conceptions of the country beyond those of victimization ii


Mother-daughter relationships

Danticat's ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'' explores the centrality of the mother-daughter relationship to self-identity and self-expression Sophie's experiences mirror those of her mother's Martine. Just as Martine was forced to submit to a virginity test at the hand of her own mother, she forces the same on Sophie after discovering her relationship with Joseph. As a result, Sophie goes through a period of self- hate, ashamed to show anyone her body, including her husband (80) iii Sophie's struggles to overcome frigidity in relation to intimacy with her husband Joseph, as well as her bulimia parallels Martine's struggle bear a child with Marc to term, as well her insomnia, and detrimental eating habits (61–62) Due to Martine's rape by a Tonton Macoute and Sophie's abuse by her mother, "each woman must come to terms with herself before she can enter into a healthy relationship with a man, and these men attempt to meet these women on the latter's own terms" (68) i The pinnacle of this mirroring comes when Sophie chooses to be her mother's Marassa, a double of herself for her mother, to share the pain, the trials and the tribulations, the ultimate connection: to become one with her mother. Marassas represent "sameness and love" as one, they are "inseparable and identical. They love each other because they are alike and always together" ii This connection between Sophie and her mother Martine has also been challenged through Sophie's own connection with her daughter Brigitte: "Martine's totally nihilistic unwillingness to begin again with the draining responsibilities of motherhood comments upon and stands in stark contrast to Sophie's loving desire to bring her daughter Brigitte into the welcoming" (79) iii


Diasporic politics

Scholars agree that Danticat manages her relationship with her Haitian history and her bicultural identity through her works by creating a new space within the political sphere. In ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'', Danticat employs the "idea of mobile traditions" as a means of creating new space for Haitian identity in America, one that is neither a "happy hybridity" nor an "unproblematic creolization" of Flatbush Brooklyn (28) x Danticat's open reference to and acceptance of her Caribbean predecessors, especially through the "grand narratives of the dead iconic fathers of Haitian literature," creates a "new community ..in luminal extra-national spaces" that "situates her narrative" in a place that is neither "absolute belonging" nor "postcolonial placelessness" (34) x Suggestive of the Haitian literary movement Indigenism, in which works sought to connect to the land of Haiti and the "plight of the peasant class" (55) Sophie's complex reality in ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'' encapsulates the transnational experience (61) Translations of ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'', especially those in France, contain slight alterations and "clumsy" replacement of creol/Caribbean terms that shift the empowered stance of Danticat's works to one of victimization, mirroring the fight authors face for a new political space in which dual Caribbean identity is accepted (68) Danticat's short story cycles in ''Krik? Krak!'' demonstrates "a symbolic weaving together" of her works and the transnational communities, including "Haitians, immigrants, women, ndmothers and daughters," that she attempts to unite (75) i Through her "voicing the intersubjective experience of a community," Danticat distinguishes herself from other Haitian prose authors (73, 76) i She creates a space for the "voicelessness" of those unable to "speak their individual experience" (76) i Danticat's short stories uphold an undivided experience, one that politically aligns itself with an "egalitarian regime of rights and the rule of law" (81) i The political space in which such a single experience can exist is the means through which Danticat's transnational identity and her characters can survive. Another work of Danticat's is her travel narrative ''After the Dance: A Walk through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti'' (2002). She believes it provides readers with an inside look and feel of Haiti's cultural legacy, practices related to Lent, its Carnival, and the
Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...
. She embarks on a journey through her work to recover the lost cultural markers of Haiti while also being marked by the Haitian geopolitical privilege and by her own privilege of mobility. Due to her active traveling privilege, she considered herself an "outsider" of Jacmel even though she did originate from Haiti. She explains: "This is the first time I will be an active reveler at a carnival in Haiti. I am worried that such an admission would appear strange for someone for whom carnival is one of life's passions...As a child living in Haiti...I had never been allowed to 'join the carnival' ... it was considered not safe for me...Since I had an intense desire to join the carnival as some peculiar American children have of joining the circus, my uncle for years spun frightening tales around it to keep me away." She said in her narrative of going back to Jacmel, "I was still wearing my own mask of a distant observer." Because of this, she advises her reader to observe her work from the perspective of a diasporic returnee rather than of an insider.


Awards and honors

Danticat has won fiction awards from ''
Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...
'' and '' Seventeen'' magazines, was named "1 of 20 people in their twenties who will make a difference" in ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...
'', was featured in ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...
'' as one of "30 under 30" people to watch, and was called one of the "15 Gutsiest Women of the Year" by '' Jane'' magazine. *1994: Fiction Award ''
The Caribbean Writer The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a Public college, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the V ...
'' *1995: Woman of Achievement Award, Barnard College * Pushcart Prize for "Between the Pool and the Gardenias" *1995:
National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987, the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, bu ...
finalist for ''Krik? Krak!'' *1996: ''
Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...
'' magazine's Best Young American Novelists *Lila-Wallace-
Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
Grant *1999: American Book Award for ''The Farming of Bones'' *1999: Flaiano Literature Prize *1999: Super Flaiano of Literature for ''The Farming of Bones'' *2005: Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for ''The Dew Breaker'' *2005: The Story Prize for ''The Dew Breaker'' *2007:
National Book Award for Nonfiction The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...
finalist for ''Brother, I'm Dying'' *2007: National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction for ''Brother, I'm Dying'' *2008: Dayton Literary Peace Prize for ''Brother, I'm Dying'' *2008: Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for ''Brother, I'm Dying'' *2009:
MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...
Genius grant *2009: The Nicolas Guillen Philosophical Literature Prize, Caribbean Philosophical Association *2011: Langston Hughes Medal,
City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...
*2011: OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for ''Create Dangerously'' *2012:
Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
Honorary Degree *2013:
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
Honorary Degree *2014:
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction __NOTOC__ The Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year. They are named in honor of ni ...
, shortlist for ''Claire of the Sea Light'' *2014: PEN Oakland – Josephine Miles Literary Award *2017: Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree from the
University of the West Indies The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in t ...
Open Campus *2017:
Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious int ...
*2018: Presidents Award, St. Martin Book Fair. *2019: National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction winner for ''Everything Inside'' *2019: St Louis Literary Award, St Louis University * *2020: The Story Prize for ''Everything Inside'' *2020: Vilcek Prize in Literature


Critical reception

Edwidge Danticat is an author, creator and participant in multiple forms of storytelling. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' has remarked on Danticat's ability to create
"moving portrait and a vivid illustration"
as a

''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' has featured Danticat's short stories and essays on multiple occasions, and regularly reviews and critiques her work. Her writing is much anthologized, including in 2019's '' New Daughters of Africa'' (edited by
Margaret Busby Margaret Yvonne Busby, , Hon. FRSL (born 1944), also known as Nana Akua Ackon, is a Ghanaian-born publisher, editor, writer and broadcaster, resident in the UK. She was Britain's then youngest publisher as well as the first black female book p ...
). Danticat's creative branching out has included
filmmaking Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...
,
short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
, and most recently
children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...
. ''Mama's Nightingale'' was written to share the story of Haitian immigrants and family separation. The book combines Danticat's storytelling abilities and work by accomplished artist Leslie Staub. Published in 2015 by
Penguin Random House Penguin Random House Limited is a British-American multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was or ...
, the children's book tells "a touching tale of parent-child separation and immigration...with stirring illustrations...and shows how every child has the power to make a difference." A review in ''The New York Times'' said that ''Mama's Nightingale'' "will inspire not just empathy for the struggles of childhood immigration, but admiration" of Danticat and Staub, too. In other creative pursuits, Danticat has worked on two films, ''Poto Mitan'' and ''
Girl Rising Girl Rising is a global movement for girls' education, based primarily around a 2013 feature film, '' Girl Rising''. Film The movie ''Girl Rising'' was produced by Kayce Freed, Tom Yellin and Holly Gordon at The Documentary Group in partnershi ...
''. The latter received a large amount of press, largely due to the star power involved with the film (including
Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...
,
Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the horror film ''The Amityville Horror (2005 film), The Amityville Horror'' (2005), the drama series ''Desperate Housewives' ...
,
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
,
Meryl Streep Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Known for her versatility and adept accent work, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career ...
,
Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...
and
Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fil ...
). In the film, Danticat was tasked with narrating the story of Wadley from
Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...
. ''Girl Rising'' was defined by ''The Washington Post'' as "a lengthy, highly effective PSA designed to kickstart a commitment to getting proper education for all young women, all over the globe". In ''Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work'', Danticat tells her own story as a part of the Haitian diaspora. ''Create Dangerously'' was inspired by author
Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...
's lecture "Create Dangerously" and his experience as an author and creator who defined his art as "a revolt against everything fleeting and unfinished in the world". In ''Create Dangerously'', Danticat is admired for "writing about tragedies and vanished cultures" and how "she accepts that by some accident she exists and has the power to create, so she does." NPR positively reviewed ''Create Dangerously'' and the journey through "looming loss hich/nowiki> makes every detail and person to whom we are introduced more luminous and precious." It was chosen by
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
as the 2018–19 Common Book, which is distributed to all first-year students at the University. Danticat published her first novel at the age of 25 in 1994, since when she has been acclaimed by critics and audience readers alike. Among her best-known books are '' Breath, Eyes, Memory'' (1994), '' Krik? Krak!'' (1996), '' The Dew Breaker'' (2004), '' Brother, I'm Dying'' (2007) and (1994). Each of these works has won awards, including the National Book Award, The Story Prize, and the National Books Critic Circle Award. Danticat usually writes about the different lives of people living in Haiti and the United States, using her own life as inspiration for her novels, typically highlighting themes of violence, class, economic troubles, gender disparities, and family. ''The Dew Breaker'' is a collection of short stories that can either be read together or separately, and detail the intermingled lives of different people in Haiti and New York. Writing in ''The New York Times'',
Michiko Kakutani is an American writer and retired literary critic, best known for reviewing books for ''The New York Times'' from 1983 to 2017. In that role, she won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1998. Early life and family Kakutani, a Japanese Americ ...
said: "Each tale in 'Dew Breaker' can stand on its own beautifully made story, but they come together as jigsaw-puzzle pieces to create a picture of this man's terrible history and his and his victims' afterlife." It was rated four out of five stars by
Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and readi ...
. ''Brother, I'm Dying'' is an autobiographical novel that tells her story of being in Haiti and moving to the United States, falling in love, and having a child. This is one of Danticat's best-rated books and was named Top-10 African American Non-fiction Books by
Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is ...
in 2008. For Jess Row of ''The New York Times'', it is "giving us a memoir whose cleareyed prose and unflinching adherence to the facts conceal an astringent undercurrent of melancholy, a mixture of homesickness and homelessness". ''Krik? Krak!'' is a collection of short stories of women in Haiti, their trials and tribulations, which ''The Washington Post Book World'' called: "virtually flawless. If the news from Haiti is too painful to read, read this book instead and understand the place more deeply than you ever thought possible." Finally, ''Breath, Eyes, Memory'' was Danticat's first novel. It tells the story of a girl, a child of rape, as she moves from Haiti to New York City and discovering the traumatic experience her mother endured, and many other women did. This book was chosen for Oprah's Book Club in 1998 and also received four out of five stars on Goodreads. Oprah said it had "vibrant imagery and narrative grace that bear witness to her people's suffering and courage."


Works


Novels

*'' Breath, Eyes, Memory'' (1994) *'' The Farming of Bones'' (1998) *'' The Dew Breaker'' (2004) *'' Claire of the Sea Light'' (2013)


Short story collections

*'' Krik? Krak!'' (1995) *''Everything Inside'' (2019)


Children/Youth

*''Behind the Mountains'' (young adult novel, 2002) *''Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490'' (young adult novel, 2005) *''The Last Mapou'' (children's novel, January 2013) *''Untwine'' (young adult novel, October 2015)


Edited anthologies

*''The Butterfly's Way'' (anthology editor) *''Best American Essays, 2011'' (anthology editor, October 2011) *''Haiti Noir 2: The Classics'' (anthology editor, January 2014)


Nonfiction

*''After the Dance: A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti'' (travel book, 2002) *'' Brother, I'm Dying'' (memoir/social criticism, 2007) *''Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work'' (essay collection, 2010) *''Eight Days: A Story of Haiti'' (picture book, 2010) *''Tent Life: Haiti'' (essay contributor, 2011) *''Haiti Noir'' (anthology editor, 2011) *''Mama's Nightingale'' (picture book, 2015) *''The Art of Death'' (biography, 2017) *''My Mommy Medicine'' (picture book, 2019) *''We're Alone'' (essay collection, 2024)


Film

*''Poto Mitan'' – Writer/Narrator, 2009 *''Girl Rising (Haiti)'' – Writer, 2013


Translations into English

* Jacques Stephen Alexis - ''L'Espace d'un cillement'' (1959). ''In the Flicker of an Eyelid'', trans. Carrol F. Coates and Edwidge Danticat (2002).


See also

* Caribbean literature *
Postcolonial literature Postcolonial literature is the literature by people from formerly colonized countries, originating from all continents except Antarctica. Postcolonial literature often addresses the problems and consequences of the colonization and subsequent deco ...


References


Further reading

*
Edwidge Danticat interview
on ''
Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...
,'' video, audio, and print transcript, October 5, 2007.
"Haitian American Novelist on 'The Immigrant Artist at Work'"
– video interview by ''
Democracy Now! ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long TV, radio, and Internet news program based in Manhattan and hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live ...
'', November 11, 2010. *Juan González & Amy Goodman
"Haitian-American Novelist Predicts 'Ongoing Disaster' in Impoverished Haiti After Hurricane Matthew"
''Truthout'', October 7, 2016.
"Edwidge Danticat" by Garnette Cadogan
for '' BOMB Magazine'', January 1, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Danticat, Edwidge 1969 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American historical novelists American women short story writers American writers of Haitian descent American young adult novelists Barnard College alumni Brown University alumni Columbia University faculty Haitian emigrants to the United States Haitian women novelists Haitian women children's writers Haitian children's writers American women children's writers American children's writers Living people MacArthur Fellows Writers from Port-au-Prince The New Yorker people Writers from New York City Writing teachers American women historical novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century Haitian novelists 21st-century Haitian novelists PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners American Book Award winners Novelists from New York (state) Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age 21st-century American essayists American women essayists African-American novelists 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century African-American writers American women writers of young adult literature National Book Critics Circle Award winners