16940: Rice: Thursday, October 16th, 6:30 pm: EDWIDGE DANTICAT featured at New York University's Haitian Writers Series (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Laura Rice <laura.rice@nyu.edu>


Exodus and Genesis: Haitian Writers in North America
This series on Haitian writers in North America will feature readings and
discussions in English by practitioners working in the continent.  These
poets and novelists are the purveyors of a new kind of literature of
profound significance to Haiti and the diaspora.  No longer bound by narrow
nationalist conventions that historically constrained literary production,
these works have emerged newly animated by an insistence on the imaginative
interrogation of such subjects as race, gender, class, and national
identity.   While Haiti serves as the national site of creative inquiry, the
works of these authors exceeds those borders to treat the complex geography
of the New World.  Indeed, this cohort of writers represents an important
part of Haiti’s new trans-national community.

The following authors have been selected for Fall 2003:

EDWIDGE DANTICAT-The author of two novels, Breath, Eyes, Memory, and The
Farming of Bones, Danticat is also the author of the short story collection
Krik? Krak! and an anthology of writing of the Haitian diaspora in the
United States, The Butterfly’s Way.  Widely considered one of the most
talented writers in the US, Danticat was the recipient, in 1995, of the
Pushcart Short Story Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Her most recent work is the travel book, After the Dance.
Thursday, October 16th, 6:30 pm
Hemmerdinger Hall
The Silver Building for Arts and Science (formerly the Main Building)
100 Washington Square East

PATRICK SYLVAIN-Poet and founding member of the Haitian Writers Coalition,
Sylvain is the author of the collections of poetry, Mazakwa, and Zanset, and
has co-edited a special issue of Compost Magazine on Haitian-American
writers.  His poems have appeared in such publications as Abafazi and
Waterways.
Wednesday, November 12th, 6:30 pm
Institute of African-American Affairs and Africana Studies Program
269 Mercer Street, Suite 601

DANIELLE GEORGES-Widely circulating in such publications as The Christian
Science Monitor, The Caribbean Writer, The American Poetry Review, and
Compost Magazine, Georges awards and honors include a 1998-9 LEF Foundation
Fellowship, a Barbara Deming Fund Grant, and a MacDowell Fellowship.  Her
most recent work is the collection of poems, Maroon.
Wednesday, December 3rd, 6:30 pm
Institute of African-American Affairs and Africana Studies Program
269 Mercer Street, Suite 601

This series is free and open to the public, but seating is limited.  Please
rsvp by calling 212-998-2130.

Haiti Bicentennial Project: 2003-2004
A Celebration of Haitian Independence
presented by the Africana Studies Program
and the Institute of African-American Affairs
at New York University

To celebrate and commemorate the Haitian Revolution and the bicentennial of
the nation’s independence, the Institute of African-American Affairs and
Africana Studies Program at New York University plans a series of events
that will engage Haiti’s historical and contemporary significance on the
global scene.  Extending the academic year 2003-2004, the Haitian
Bicentennial Program will feature: a film festival, a conference, a writer’s
series, an artist-in-residence program, and graduate and undergraduate
courses thematically organized on Haiti.

While often referred to as the stepchild of the French Revolution, the
significance of the Haitian Revolution, in world-historical terms, is
astounding.  It succeeded in establishing the first independent black nation
and represents the second successful anti-colonial struggle in this
hemisphere.  Additionally, Haiti’s impact on culture, history, spiritual
belief systems and religious practices, politics, and economies throughout
Europe, North, South and Central America, and the Caribbean, both
historically and contemporarily, is incalculable.  It is our intention
during this year-long celebration to provide the intellectual and
institutional space to consider, reflect upon, and analyze:

*  Haiti's revolutionary beginnings
*  Haiti’s historical relationship with the Americas
*  Current U.S. policy on Haiti
*  The effects of Duvalierism
*  The literary, cinematic, and scholarly production of Haiti’s new
trans-national community

Located in one of the world’s most culturally diverse cities, and itself a
major intellectual and cultural institution, NYU is well-suited to host the
range of activities intended to center Haiti in the minds of New York’s
scholarly, artistic, and popular communities during the academic year
2003-2004.


Laura Rice
Associate Director
Institute of African-American Affairs
New York University
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
269 Mercer Street, Suite 601
Mail Code: 0846
New York, NY  10003
Phone: 212-998-2134
Fax: 212-995-4109
E-mail: laura.rice@nyu.edu


Since its inception in 1969, the Institute of African-American Affairs at
New York University has been a vibrant cultural community center dedicated
to research, documentation, and the celebration of Black culture and
creative expressions. Both the Institute and its affiliate, the NYU Africana
Studies Program in the Faculty of Arts and Science, are committed to the
study of Blacks in modernity through concentrations in Pan-Africanism and
Black Urban Studies. These distinct organizations share staff and
facilities.