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Category Archives: Haiti
This story… If I didn’t post, tweet, or blog about it, I squeezed it into this book. #sayhername #blackgirlmagic (literally) #HaitiLovesDetroit #HaitiLovesFlint #HaitiLovesNOLA From Publisher’s Weekly: Alessandra Balzer at HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray has preempted author Ibi Zoboi’s YA debut, American … Continue reading
There’s a new YA novel set in post-earthquake Haiti. So exciting! There’s now enough post-earthquake Haitian literature for a whole college course! I was so honored to be able to review this book for the New York Times! ‘HOLD TIGHT, … Continue reading
My mother has a big birthday today–ends in a 0 or a 5. I hesitate to say her age. She’s a classy lady. A lot of what a write has to do with mother daughter relationships. My young characters usually … Continue reading
I’ve been going to Kreyolicious.com for all things Haitian for quite some time now. I love their Haiti 101 series. It’s a site that caters to young Haitians in the diaspora who want to connect to their culture, history, and … Continue reading
Beasts of the Southern Wild has been the only movie to make me wail like a newborn. This was not a sad, defeated wail. It was a cry of pure joy. I loved this movie and I care deeply about … Continue reading
Humor me, please. Here I will list my fears of the “Dark Island” (a play on the infamous “Dark Continent” references that were so prevalent in American literature & film). And humor is the best way to deal with what … Continue reading
It’s my birthday today! It’s also the late, great Octavia Butler’s birthday. And the late, great Katherine Dunham’s birthday, too, who had a deep love of Haiti. I really do believe in the secret language of birthdays and astrology. How … Continue reading
1.12.10 They said we opened the gates of hell But it was only to let ourselves out. We clawed at its doors Heads bowed to the floor If only our collective tears could form an ocean And we would join … Continue reading
I am the winner of the Gulliver Travel & Research Grant awarded annually by the Speculative Literature Foundation! What does this mean? (My favorite question in the whole wide world.) I created something and it was good enough. That’s all … Continue reading
I adore this publication! Yep, the Caribbean has a whole different aesthetic when it comes to literature. Our history, folklore & mythology, landscape, and overall culture determines how our stories are told. Summer Edwards is the magazine’s creator and she’s … Continue reading
I attended an exhibition of Tequila Minsky’s photography at the SoHo Photo Gallery on Friday evening. The event was hosted by Haiti Cultural Exchange and was very well-attended. Tequila showed some photos of rural Haiti and a newly built school. … Continue reading
My first online story was up in the September “Villians” Issue of Crossed Genres Magazine. Here’s an excerpt: The pang of hunger is bitter, sharp, hot – familiar even. I don’t sleep. My feet and right hip ache from carrying … Continue reading
I had my first online interview with fellow Haitian writer Katia Ulysse, sister to the wonderful poet, activist, and anthropology professor Gina Athena Ulysse. Katia did an excellent job of stringing my words together to come with a lyrical narrative. … Continue reading
I received my copy of The Caribbean Writer in the mail a few weeks ago and I was pleasantly surprised at how thick it was. It’s a textbook! I used to carry around my Norton Anthology of African American Literature … Continue reading
Professor Henry Louis Gates’ PBS documentary Black in Latin America was an excellent portrayal (however brief) of Latin America’s long and complex history as being these in-between worlds that connect African culture and ancestral memory to Columbus’ and Europe’s vision … Continue reading
I LOVE to dance (I share a birthday with dance innovator and Haitiphile, the late great Ms. Katherine Dunham). But I am not a DAHncer. It’s only in college that I started taking dance classes—starting with ballet and modern. And … Continue reading
Yes, we Haitians can tell our own stories. And they’re not all melancholy, doom and gloom tales of our poor little country. Well, in Haiti Noir they are. Though, these stories are written with such depth that you’re forced to … Continue reading
Today marks the 207th anniversary of Haiti’s independence from the French. With Jean-Jacque Dessalines’ declaration of “liberty or death”, vengeance in their hearts and machete in hand exclaiming “koupe tet, boule kay” (cut heads, burn houses), those mighty Africans claimed … Continue reading
On Friday, October 29th, Haiti Cultural Exchange hosted An’n Pale (“let’s talk” in Kreyol)/Cafe Conversations at SHOP TALK ART in Fort Greene, Brooklyn where I discussed the Daughters of Anacaona Writing Project and presented the culminating anthology. Poet Jennifer Celestin … Continue reading
This is the first of many musings on the not-so-prodigal daughter’s return to her native homeland. Griot is also a popular Haitian fried pork dish. But here, I mean Griot, the West African concept for a storyteller or djeli (though … Continue reading
Originally posted on June 25 on my Kickstarter project page. While FF volunteers and I were scheduling the workshops, I wasn’t aware of some of the pitfalls in planning an event for the evening. Bayyinah Bello had informed me that … Continue reading
Posts from my Kickstarter Project. Day 1 (originally posted on 6/23) I’m genuinely pleased with the culmination of the first day of DAWP in Haiti. We had a total of 19 young women in attendance. Again, an excellent job on … Continue reading
Posts from my Kickstarter Project Launching Tomorrow (original post on 6/22/10) I’m in Port-au-Prince now at the offices of FONDASYON FELICITE in the section of Tabarre in a quaint, gated village called Village Theodat. It’s my birthday and the 3volunteers … Continue reading