Edwidge Danticat

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Edwidge Danticat

Danticat, September 2007.
Born January 19, 1969 (1969-01-19) (age 39)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Occupation Writer
Nationality Haitian American
Writing period 1994 - present
Genres Novels, short stories

Edwidge Danticat (pronounced: Dahn-tee-kah; born January 19, 1969) is a Haitian-born American author.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Danticat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When she was two years old, her father André immigrated to New York from Haiti, to be followed two years later by her mother Rose. This left Danticat and her younger brother Eliab to be raised by her aunt and uncle. Although her formal education in Haiti was in French, she spoke Haitian Kréyòl at home.

While still in Haiti, Danticat wrote her first short story about a girl who was visited by a clan of women each night.[citation needed] At the age of 12, she moved to Brooklyn, New York to join her parents in a heavily Haitian American neighborhood. As an immigrant teenager Edwidge's accent and upbringing were a source of discomfort for her, thus she turned to literature for solace.[citation needed] Two years later she published her first writing, in English.

[edit] Career

After graduating from high school, Danticat entered Barnard College in New York City. Initially she had intended on studying to become a teacher but her love of writing won out and she received a BA in French literature. In 1993, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University—her thesis, titled "My turn in the fire - an abridged novel" [1], was the basis for her novel Breath, Eyes, Memory[citation needed], which was published by Soho Press in 1994. Four years later it became an Oprah's Book Club selection.[2]

Since completing her Master's Degree, Danticat has taught creative writing at both New York University and the University of Miami.[citation needed] She has also worked with filmmakers Patricia Benoit and Jonathan Demme on projects on Haitian art and documentaries about Haïti.[citation needed] Her short stories, e.g. "New York Day Woman", have appeared in over 25 periodicals and have been anthologized several times.[citation needed] Her work has been translated into numerous other languages including French, Korean, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish.[citation needed]

"The Farming of Bones" was dramatised as a Radio 4 serial in 2006, but received a poor critical reception.[citation needed]

Danticat is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

[edit] Works

Danticant wrote the foreword to Tram Nguyen's book, We Are All Suspects Now: Untold Stories from Immigrant Communities after 9/11.

[edit] Awards

  • 1994 Fiction Award The Caribbean Writer
  • 1995 Woman of Achievement Award, Barnard College
  • Pushcart Short Story Prize for "Between the Pool and the Gardenias"
  • National Book Award nomination for Krik? Krak!
  • 1996 Best Young American Novelists for Breath, Eyes, Memory by GRANTA
  • Lila-Wallace-Reader's Digest Grant
  • 1999 American Book Award for The Farming of the Bones
  • The International Flaiano Prize for literature
  • The Super Flaiano Prize for The Farming of the Bones
  • 2005 The Story Prize for "The Dew Breaker"
  • 2008 The National Book Critics Circle Award for "Brother, I'm Dying"

Danticat has also won fiction awards from Essence and Seventeen Magazines, was named "1 of 20 people in their twenties who will make a difference" in Harpers Bazaar, was featured in New York Times Magazine as one of "30 under 30" people to watch, and was called one of the "15 Gutsiest Women of the Year" by Jane Magazine.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Theses & Dissertations Record from a Brown University website
  2. ^ 'Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat from Oprah Winfrey's official website

[edit] External links

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