Day 26 of 28 – Black History Month – Edwidge Danticat

By: Jacqueline McKay

Edwidge Danticat (Jan. 19, 1969 – )

Haitian-born Edwidge Danticat is a phenomenal writer. Honestly, I have not read anything of hers that I haven’t loved. Her stories draw you deep into the lives of her characters, into the landscape, showing the raw emotion -whether it is pain, joy, or hope – you feel everything. I first read Krik Krak many years ago and was enthralled with her style of writing so I looked for more. Breath, Eyes, Memory came next, and then a friend told me about The Farming of Bones, which deals with the island of Hispaniola and the senseless massacre of Haitian workers in the Dominican Republic which was ordered by the dictator Trujillo. I’ve read The Farming of Bones twice already and look forward to reading it again. I’ll compare her to Toni Morrison, not in their style of writing, but in the addictive feeling you get when you read their stories.

Recently I was looking for something else from Danticat and came across Create Dangerously, which is supposed to tell the stories of immigrant writers who continue to write, despite the hardships or horrors that they had experienced. As an aspiring writer I look forward to gaining inspiration from those stories.

If you’re not already, I’m sure you’ll become a fan of this author. I highly recommend Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones, Krik Krak, and Breath, Eyes, Memory.

Photo: http://blogs.bookforum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/edwidge-danticat.jpg