Haitian-American Author Edwidge Danticat to Speak at Next Wooster Forum

Lecture scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 4, at The College of Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat will address race, gender, and family values in relation to Haitian culture when she discusses her book, Brother, I’m Dying (the summer reading assignment for all incoming students), at the second Wooster Forum event on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7:30 p.m. in The College of Wooster’s McGaw Chapel (340 E. University St.).

Brother, I’m Dying provides insight into Haitian politics, culture, and history from the perspectives of Danticat’s father who emigrated to the U.S., and her uncle, a Baptist minister, who stayed in Haiti. Danticat’s career began in 1994 with her novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory. Her second novel, Krik? Krak! was nominated for the National Book Award in 2005, making her the youngest author to be nominated for that honor. The Farming of Bones, published in 1999, was also lauded for its depiction of Haitian culture and for the intensity of the writing.

Danticat’s honors include a 2009 MacArthur Grant — also known as a Genius Award — which recognizes “exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential to facilitate subsequent creative work.” She also received the Granta Regional Award as one of the 20 Best Young American Novelists, a Pushcart Prize, a grant from the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest foundation, and awards from Seventeen and Essence magazines for fiction writing. A 1990 graduate of Barnard College, where she earned a degree in French literature, Danticat attended graduate school at Brown University.

The next Wooster Forum event will be Tuesday, Oct. 11, when John Wingfield, professor of neurobiology, physiology, and behavior at University of California Davis, talks about American birds and wildlife. Additional information about the Wooster Forum is available online, by phone (330-263-2132), and via e-mail.