Being a shy child, I always longed for a mask. Even in my adult life, I have glasses, they are my mask.
Edwidge DanticatThere are many possible interpretations of what it means to create dangerously, and Albert Camus, like the poet Osip Mandelstam, suggests that it is creating as a revolt against silence, creating when both the creation and the reception, the writing and the reading, are dangerous undertakings, disobedience to a directive.
Edwidge DanticatI'm happy to be part of this chorus of people who are trying to tell more complex stories about Haiti.
Edwidge DanticatWhen people think about this religion, they'll say "voodoo" this and "voodoo" that in the way the Hollywood movies show it: the sticking of pins in dolls. It's very different than Vodou - which is a religion that comes to Haiti from our ancestors in Africa. I want to differentiate it from the stereotypical, sensationalized view that we see of the religion.
Edwidge DanticatWhole interaction between the storyteller and the listeners had a very powerful influence on me.
Edwidge DanticatOne of the things that sparked my interest in this is the case of Emmanuel Constant, who started a militia called FRAPH that was backed by the CIA. FRAPH killed thousands of Haitians in the early 1990s. Now while Constant is living comfortably in Queens, other Haitians are being deported. I wanted to see how those who have been bruised by people like that deal with coming face to face with their torturers.
Edwidge Danticat