USA Stokes Center Hosts Edwidge Danticat
Posted on February 6, 2020 by Amber Day
Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat talked about her writing at the University of South Alabama on Thursday, Jan. 30 in the Student Center Ballroom.
Danticat is an author of numerous books, including “Brother, I’m Dying,” a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and a National Book Award finalist; “Breath, Eyes, Memory,” an Oprah Book Club selection; “Krik? Krak!,” a National Book Award finalist; and “The Dew Breaker,” a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize.
Danticat, who was born in Haiti and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, recently published “Everything Inside.” The book includes stories reflecting Danticat’s personal experiences at home in Haiti and abroad. It was named one of the “best books of 2019” by NPR, Time, BuzzFeed and Esquire; nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award; and a finalist for the Story Prize.
“I am honored to visit the University of South Alabama, to meet with its community of readers and writers, particularly at the Stokes Center for Creative Writing, which has welcomed writers from the United States and around the world,” Danticat said.
During her talk at South, Danticat discussed her fiction as well as immigration, diasporic politics and national identity. The event, sponsored by the USA Stokes Center for Creative Writing, was free and open to the public. A reception and book signing followed.
While at the University, Danticat also led a creative writing class.
“When these wonderful writers visit our campus, we ensure that they have direct interaction with the students in our creative writing program,” said Dr. Charlotte Pence, Stokes Center director. “Danticat critiqued a graduate student’s work in the fiction class so that other students could learn how Danticat builds and revises a story.”
Co-sponsors with the Stokes Center for Creative Writing include the Alabama Humanities Foundation, the USA Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Dwell Mobile, the USA Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice and Phi Kappa Phi.
The Stokes Center enhances the USA Department of English course offerings in creative writing by sponsoring readings, lectures, forums, community projects and other events that are free and open to the public. It also supports students through its undergraduate and graduate awards in poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. The Stokes Center is committed to fostering a vibrant writers’ community in southern Alabama, one that not only showcases both local and national talent, but also provides a meeting place for writers from around the world.
For more information, please contact Pence at cpence@southalabama.edu.