Words Have Wings

Happy New Year! Today, we are honored to welcome eminent Haitian-American author and the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University, Edwidge Danticat. In this episode, Professor Danticat guides Lilly through her literary craft and prolific library of 17 published books. The conversation probes the crucial role of literature in preserving and amplifying cultural legacies, and positions storytelling as a vital repository of collective narratives. 

Through the prism of her own intricate experiences of identity and belonging, Danticat navigates the unique challenges and perspectives of diasporic writers. As a Haitian-American artist bridging cultural divides, her work embodies both the ancestral whispers of her homeland and the pulse of her adopted landscape. From her award-winning memoir, Brother I'm Dying, to her iconic short stories in Everything Inside, Professor Danticat discusses the centrality of women, the traveling spirit of stories, and the importance of transferring cultural legacies to the next generation. Her insights take us on a captivating intellectual journey, exploring the creative process, the complexities of diasporic identity, and the enduring power of storytelling.

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We honor Professor Danticat and want to celebrate her many contributions and accolades. Her awards include: an Oprah Book Club selection for Breath, Eyes, Memory, National Book Award finalists for Krik? Krak! and The Art of Death, and her memoir, Brother, I'm Dying, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. In addition, Everything Inside was a 2020 winner of the Bocas Fiction Prize, The Story Prize, and the National Book Critics Circle Fiction Prize. She is a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, a 2018 Ford Foundation Art of Change Fellow, a 2018 winner of the Neustadt Prize, a 2019 winner of the Saint Louis Literary Award, a 2020 United States Artist Fellow, a 2020 winner of the Vilceck Prize, and a 2023 winner of the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.

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