Danticat, Edwidge

January 19, 1969

Edwidge Danticat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Her parents emigrated to the United States when she was only two years old, leaving her and a younger brother in the custody of their aunt and uncle. The two children had to wait until 1981 to be reunited with their parents, who were living in Brooklyn, New York. Sent to an American public school, she started writing in English to develop her mastery of the language. While attending Barnard College, some of her short stories were published in the magazines Essence and Seventeen. In 1991 she became involved with the National Coalition for Haitian Refugees (NCHR), speaking at public meetings in defense of Haitian boat people and other illegal immigrants.

In 1994 Danticat published her first novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory. The novel tells about the experience of migration and adjustment in the United States from a child's perspective, and it explores mother-daughter relationships and female bonding. The work was widely acclaimed upon publication, and it has generated numerous critical studies.

Danticat's second book, Krik? Krak! (1995), a collection of short stories, was a finalist for the National Book Award and received the Pushcart Short Story Prize. The stories of the collection, anchored around the imaginary provincial town of Ville-Rose, reveal a writer experimenting with style and technique. In 1998 Danticat published The Farming of Bones, a compelling novel about the 1937 slaughter of Haitian cane workers in the Dominican Republic. In June of that same year, Breath, Eyes, Memory was selected as a featured book on the Oprah Winfrey Show as part of Oprah's Book Club.

Danticat has also edited two anthologies: The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing by Women and Men of All Colors and Cultures and The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Diaspora (2001), a collection of writings by Haitians living in the United States. Other publications include a book on Carnival in Haiti, After the Dance: A Walk Through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti (2002); a children's story, Behind the Mountains (2003); her third novel, The Dew Breaker (2004); and a historical young-adult novel, Anacoana (2005).

Danticat's books have been translated into French, Spanish, German, and Dutch, and in 1999 she received the Prix Carbet (a coveted French Caribbean literary prize) for La Récolte douce des larmes, the French translation of The Farming of Bones. Because she writes in English, it took some time for her to find acceptance among Haitian writers living in Haiti. However, they have come to recognize her as a "go-between" and the most talented writer of the young generation.

Danticat is also very committed to the Haitian community, both in Haiti and the United States. She collects books for Haitian schools and visits the special sections of American schools to which Haitian migrant children are often relegated.

See also Caribbean/North American Writers (Contemporary); Literature of Haiti; Women Writers of the Caribbean

Bibliography

N'Zengou-Tayo, Marie-José. "Rewriting Folklore: Traditional Beliefs and Popular Culture in Edwidge Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak!" MaComère 3 (2000): 123–140.

Shea, Renee H. "The Dangerous Job of Edwidge Danticat: An Interview." Callaloo 19, no. 2 (Spring 1996): 382–389.

marie-josÉ n'zengou-tayo (2005)