Edwidge Danticat Biography
Since the publication of her debut work Breath, Eyes, Memory in 1994, Edwidge Danticat has won praise as one of
America's brightest, most graceful and vibrant young writers. In this novel, and in her National Book
Award-nominated collection of stories, Krik? Krak!, Danticat evokes the powerful imagination and rich narrative
tradition of her native Haiti, and in the process records the suffering, triumphs, and wisdom of its people. Author
Paule Marshall has said of Danticat, "A silenced Haiti has once again found its literary voice."
Born in Haiti in 1969, Danticat, like the protagonist of her novel Breath, Eyes, Memory, at the age of twelve left her
birthplace for New York to reunite with her parents. She earned a degree in French Literature from Barnard College,
where she won the 1995 Woman of Achievement Award, and later an MFA from Brown University. More recently,
she has received an ongoing grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Foundation.
Critical acclaim and awards for her first novel included a Granta Regional Award for the Best Young American
Novelists, a Pushcart Prize and fiction awards from Essence and Seventeen magazines. She was chosen by Harper's
Bazaar as one of 20 people in their twenties who will make a difference, and was featured in a New York Times
Magazine article that named "30 Under 30" creative people to watch. In winter 2005, Jane magazine named her one of
the "15 Gutsiest Women of the Year."
Danticat's second novel, The Farming of Bones, based upon the 1937 massacre of Haitians at the border of the
Dominican Republic, was published in September 1998 by Soho Press; and The Dew
Breaker was published in 2004. In addition she has written at
least two books for children (including Anacaona, Golden Flower, Haiti, 1490 and Behind the Mountains)
and some non-fiction.
This biography was last updated on 07/27/2011.
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