Immigrant of the Day: Edwidge Danticat

Edwidge Danticat (born January 19, 1969 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a author.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. It was during these years that she was exposed to the Haitian practice of storytelling. While still in Haiti, Danticat wrote her first short story about a girl who was visited by a clan of women each night.

At age 12, Danticat moved to Brooklyn, New York to join her parents in a heavily Haitian American neighborhood. As an immigrant teenager, her accent and upbringing were a source of discomfort for her, thus she turned to literature for solace. After graduating high school, Danticat entered Barnard College in New York City and she received a BA in French literature. Later, Danticat earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown. Her thesis at Brown was her novel Breath, Eyes, Memory, which was published by Soho Press in 1994. This would later become an Oprah’s Book Club selection in 1998.

Danticat has taught creative writing at New York University, and the University of Miami. She has also worked with filmmakers Patricia Benoit and Jonathan Demme on projects on Haitian art and documentaries about Haïti. Her short stories, such as “New York Day Woman”, have appeared in over 25 periodicals and have been anthologized several times. Her work has been translated into other languages such as French, Korean, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish.

Although she is a U.S. citizen, Danticat remains connected to Haiti, which she has visits regularly.

Danticat has been honored with manytfollowing awards.  She was named “1 of 20 people in their twenties who will make a difference” by Harpers Bazaar, was featured in the 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. In short, Danticat has become one of America’s most celebrated new writers.

KJ