I would hate for people to generalize about every Haitian from something that one Haitian did, or a group of Haitians did.

America's relationship with Haiti has always been very complicated. I often say to people, "Before we came to America, America came to us in the form of the American occupation from 1915 to 1934."

I think all artists are looking for a subject or are sometimes unsure of their subject, but immigrant artists bring another culture to that and they bring also the place where the original culture meets the new culture.

And the fact that Haiti was occupied for 19 years by the United States, from 1915 to 1934.

People who want alternative information have to try so hard to find it.

It is the calm and silent waters that drown you.

There is this split between the Haiti of before the earthquake and the Haiti of after the earthquake. So when I'm writing anything set in Haiti now, whether fiction or nonfiction, always in the back of my mind is how people, including some of my own family members, have been affected not just by history and by the present but also by the earthquake.