{"id":1234,"date":"2004-09-01T21:38:44","date_gmt":"2004-09-02T01:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=1234"},"modified":"2017-02-13T21:51:43","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T02:51:43","slug":"dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Dew<\/a>Horror, Hope & Redemption: A Talk with Edwidge Danticat About Her Latest Novel, The Dew Breaker<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I\u00a0mention to a dear friend in England, who happens\u00a0to be an excellent fiction writer herself, that I\u2019m preparing\u00a0to interview Edwidge Danticat, her reply is swift: \u201cI\u00a0can\u2019t believe you\u2019re interviewing Edwidge Danticat. She is an\u00a0amazing writer, writes all those things we Europeans are trained\u00a0to feel they shouldn\u2019t name.\u201d Indeed, Danticat\u2019s books have\u00a0covered some of the worst atrocities humans perpetrate on one\u00a0another, while her prowess as a writer allows her to reveal her\u00a0stories in nuanced, elegant prose. In spite of her youth \u2013\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0just in her mid-30s\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the seemingly effortless grace of Danticat\u2019s\u00a0work belies a wisdom gained only in experiences that cannot\u00a0possibly be measured by age.<\/p>\n

Her latest book is no different. Published\u00a0last spring to unabashedly glowing reviews,\u00a0The Dew Breaker<\/em> is ultimately a novel of\u00a0hope and redemption, but the details\u00a0throughout are horrific and haunting. The\u00a0title refers to a torturer employed by the\u00a0brutal government of Fran\u00e7ois \u201cPapa Doc\u201d\u00a0Duvalier to kidnap, maim, and kill people,\u00a0so named because the dew breaker usually\u00a0arrived \u201cbefore dawn, as the dew was settling\u00a0on the leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like her latest novel, Danticat\u2019s other\u00a0fiction, Breath, \u00a0Eyes, \u00a0Memory<\/em>; Krik? \u00a0Krak!<\/em>; The Farming \u00a0of\u00a0Bones<\/em>; and young adult novel Behind the Mountains<\/a><\/em>, is a powerful\u00a0mixture of her native Haiti\u2019s turbulent collective history\u00a0and her own transforming journey to America. Born in a time\u00a0of political and economic instability, Danticat was raised by\u00a0her aunt and uncle in Haiti until her parents, who had previously\u00a0emigrated to the United States, sent for her when she\u00a0was 12. …[click here for more<\/a>]\n

Author interview<\/strong>: The Bloomsbury Review<\/em>, September\/October 2004<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2004<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"dew-breaker\"Horror, Hope & Redemption: A Talk with Edwidge Danticat About Her Latest Novel, The Dew Breaker<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When I mention to a dear friend in England, who happens to be an excellent fiction writer herself, that I\u2019m preparing to interview Edwidge Danticat, her reply is swift: \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re interviewing Edwidge Danticat. She is an amazing writer, writes all those things we Europeans are trained to feel they shouldn\u2019t name.\u201d Indeed, Danticat\u2019s books have covered some of the worst atrocities humans perpetrate on one another, while her prowess as a writer allows her to reveal her stories in nuanced, elegant prose. In spite of her youth \u2013 she\u2019s just in her mid-30s \u2013 the seemingly effortless grace of Danticat\u2019s work belies a wisdom gained only in experiences that cannot possibly be measured by age. <\/p>\n

Her latest book is no different. Published last spring to unabashedly glowing reviews, The Dew Breaker<\/em> is ultimately a novel of hope and redemption, but the details throughout are horrific and haunting. The title refers to a torturer employed by the brutal government of Fran\u00e7ois \u201cPapa Doc\u201d Duvalier to kidnap, maim, and kill people, so named because the dew breaker usually arrived \u201cbefore dawn, as the dew was settling on the leaves.\u201d <\/p>\n

Like her latest novel, Danticat\u2019s other fiction, Breath, Eyes, Memory<\/em>; Krik? Krak!<\/em>; The Farming of Bones<\/em>; and young adult novel Behind the Mountains<\/a><\/em>, is a powerful mixture of her native Haiti\u2019s turbulent collective history and her own transforming journey to America. Born in a time of political and economic instability, Danticat was raised by her aunt and uncle in Haiti until her parents, who had previously emigrated to the United States, sent for her when she was 12. …[click here for more<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Author interview<\/strong>: The Bloomsbury Review<\/em>, September\/October 2004<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2004<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4,142,366,90,6,7228,7229,6535],"tags":[84,1968,6608,341,4525,368,12,28,29],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-author-interview-profile","category-black-african-american","category-caribbean","category-caribbean-american","category-fiction","category-haitian","category-haitian-american","category-repost","tag-betrayal","tag-bloomsbury-review","tag-bookdragon","tag-colonialism","tag-dew-breaker","tag-edwidge-danticat","tag-girl-rising","tag-politics","tag-race-racism"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Horror, Hope & Redemption: A Talk with Edwidge Danticat About Her Latest Novel, The Dew Breaker When I mention to a dear friend in England, who happens to be an excellent fiction writer herself, that I\u2019m preparing to interview Edwidge Danticat, her reply is swift: \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re interviewing Edwidge Danticat. She is an amazing writer, writes all those things we Europeans are trained to feel they shouldn\u2019t name.\u201d Indeed, Danticat\u2019s books have covered some of the worst atrocities humans perpetrate on one another, while her prowess as a writer allows her to reveal her stories in nuanced, elegant prose. In spite of her youth \u2013 she\u2019s just in her mid-30s \u2013 the seemingly effortless grace of Danticat\u2019s work belies a wisdom gained only in experiences that cannot possibly be measured by age. Her latest book is no different. Published last spring to unabashedly glowing reviews, The Dew Breaker is ultimately a novel of hope and redemption, but the details throughout are horrific and haunting. The title refers to a torturer employed by the brutal government of Fran\u00e7ois \u201cPapa Doc\u201d Duvalier to kidnap, maim, and kill people, so named because the dew breaker usually arrived \u201cbefore dawn, as the dew was settling on the leaves.\u201d Like her latest novel, Danticat\u2019s other fiction, Breath, Eyes, Memory; Krik? Krak!; The Farming of Bones; and young adult novel Behind the Mountains, is a powerful mixture of her native Haiti\u2019s turbulent collective history and her own transforming journey to America. Born in a time of political and economic instability, Danticat was raised by her aunt and uncle in Haiti until her parents, who had previously emigrated to the United States, sent for her when she was 12. ...[click here for more] Author interview: The Bloomsbury Review, September\/October 2004 Readers: Adult Published: 2004\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2004-09-02T01:38:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-14T02:51:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2004\/09\/Dew-Breaker.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"317\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"475\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SmithsonianAPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review] - BookDragon","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review] - BookDragon","og_description":"Horror, Hope & Redemption: A Talk with Edwidge Danticat About Her Latest Novel, The Dew Breaker When I mention to a dear friend in England, who happens to be an excellent fiction writer herself, that I\u2019m preparing to interview Edwidge Danticat, her reply is swift: \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re interviewing Edwidge Danticat. She is an amazing writer, writes all those things we Europeans are trained to feel they shouldn\u2019t name.\u201d Indeed, Danticat\u2019s books have covered some of the worst atrocities humans perpetrate on one another, while her prowess as a writer allows her to reveal her stories in nuanced, elegant prose. In spite of her youth \u2013 she\u2019s just in her mid-30s \u2013 the seemingly effortless grace of Danticat\u2019s work belies a wisdom gained only in experiences that cannot possibly be measured by age. Her latest book is no different. Published last spring to unabashedly glowing reviews, The Dew Breaker is ultimately a novel of hope and redemption, but the details throughout are horrific and haunting. The title refers to a torturer employed by the brutal government of Fran\u00e7ois \u201cPapa Doc\u201d Duvalier to kidnap, maim, and kill people, so named because the dew breaker usually arrived \u201cbefore dawn, as the dew was settling on the leaves.\u201d Like her latest novel, Danticat\u2019s other fiction, Breath, Eyes, Memory; Krik? Krak!; The Farming of Bones; and young adult novel Behind the Mountains, is a powerful mixture of her native Haiti\u2019s turbulent collective history and her own transforming journey to America. Born in a time of political and economic instability, Danticat was raised by her aunt and uncle in Haiti until her parents, who had previously emigrated to the United States, sent for her when she was 12. ...[click here for more] Author interview: The Bloomsbury Review, September\/October 2004 Readers: Adult Published: 2004","og_url":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/","og_site_name":"BookDragon","article_published_time":"2004-09-02T01:38:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-14T02:51:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":317,"height":475,"url":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2004\/09\/Dew-Breaker.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SmithsonianAPA","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/","url":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/","name":"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review] - BookDragon","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/#website"},"datePublished":"2004-09-02T01:38:44+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-14T02:51:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/#\/schema\/person\/a00f6dcfcb279c75f3f992ad2919d51d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dew-breaker-by-edwidge-danticat-author-interview\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat + Author Interview [in Bloomsbury Review]"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/","name":"BookDragon","description":"Books for the Diverse Reader","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/#\/schema\/person\/a00f6dcfcb279c75f3f992ad2919d51d","name":"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79b5f08575e8962bd00388cd126d374b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/79b5f08575e8962bd00388cd126d374b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/@SmithsonianAPA"],"url":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/author\/riemert\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1234"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39053,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1234\/revisions\/39053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}