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29160: info: Haiti event Hudson valley (fwd)
From: info <info@wozoproductions.org>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gerald Benjamin, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences,
SUNY New Paltz (845) 257-3520 benjamig@newpaltz.edu
Lyn Thoman, Composition Program Assistant, Department of English
SUNY New Paltz (845) 257-2727 thomanl@newpaltz.edu
Onebookonenewpaltz.org
New Paltz, NY September, 2006. ONE BOOK BRIDGING MANY COMMUNITIES?
What book could capture the attention of a village, a university campus,
and a large town?the attention of a large and diverse Hudson River Valley
community? What book demands social and philosophical discussion beyond
its beautifully written pages?
The Dew Breaker, Haitian author Edwidge Danticat?s elegy to history,
memory, pain, and forgiveness has been selected as the focus of the 2006
community-wide One Book, One New Paltz project. The synergy among the One
Book committee, the English Composition Program (among other disciplines
at SUNY New Paltz) and the Village and Town of New Paltz is particularly
rich, promising a memorable and rewarding One Book program. Numerous
events have been organized to foster discussion of the book and educate
the public about Haiti?s politics and culture. Since 1998, nation-wide
One Book programs have aimed to encourage a broad spectrum of people from
a single town, school, or region to read the same book and participate in
programs and discussions around the selected book.
Edwidge Danticat, a particularly accomplished young author, is scheduled
to speak on Thursday, October 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Studley Hall at SUNY New
Paltz the evening before she is scheduled to appear at the prestigious
New Yorker festival in early October.
?Danticat?s gift is to combine both sympathy and clarity in a moral
tangle that becomes as tight as a Haitian community. . . Moving,? writes
Pico Iyer about The Dew Breaker in Time. The Dew Breaker is a patchwork
of nine stories that at first seem only tenuously and mysteriously
connected, but as you read one after the other it becomes clear that what
is being formed is a beautiful and passionate quilt. These stories
originally appeared in the New Yorker or in other publications and each
can stand powerfully on its own.
Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when
she was twelve. She is the author of several books, including Breath,
Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book
Award finalist; and The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner.
She is also the editor of The Butterfly?s Way: Voices from the Haitian
Dyaspora in the United States and The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing
by Men and Women of All Colors and Cultures.
Another key One Book event is ?Anfas Listwa Nou: Facing Our History,? an
exhibition of photographs by Haitian photojournalist Daniel Morel at the
Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz from October 4 through
December. As a photojournalist, New Paltz resident Morel has documented
twenty years of political and personal upheaval in Haiti; his images,
published internationally, have prompted worldwide shock, commentary, and
empathy. Morel, aware that native Haitians rarely see these or other
images of themselves, hopes that this exhibition, originally launched in
Haiti in July 2006, fosters introspection and dialogue among Haitians
both at home and abroad?those who Morel believes are crucial to the
future of his native land. A public reception (5 p.m. at the Dorsky
Museum) and artist talk (7:30 p.m. at the nearby Lecture Center) will
mark the beginning of a series of events celebrating Haiti?s people,
history, culture, and future. http://www.facingourhistory.org
Several discussion groups will be held at various locations throughout
the village and town and the following events have been organized:
Wednesday, October 4
?Anfas Listwa Nou: Facing Our History? opening reception. Samuel Dorsky
Museum of Art, SUNY New Paltz, 5 p.m. Co-sponsored by the SUNY
Composition Program, Department of English.
Haiti Eyes multimedia presentation co-hosted by journalists and
filmmakers Daniel Morel and Jane Regan. SUNY New Paltz Lecture Center
100, 7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the SUNY Composition Program, Department
of English. Photos, excerpts from past documentary projects and works in
progress.
Thursday, October 5
Edwidge Danticat Speaks! The author of The Dew Breaker lectures at
Studley Theater, SUNY New Paltz,
7:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the SUNY Composition Program, Department of
English, Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Academic Advising.
Saturday, October 7
Village of New Paltz? annual Diversity Day Celebration
Conversations @ Samuel Dorsky Museum featuring Daniel Morel at Sarah
Bedrick Gallery, SDMA,
SUNY New Paltz, 11:00 a.m.
Sunday, October 8
Screening of PBS documentary Haiti: Unfinished Country (Jane Regan,
Daniel Morel, Whitney Dow) (2003) at Unison Gallery, 7:30 p.m. Discussion
to follow.
Tuesday, October 9
Screening of Jonathan Demme?s The Agronomist (2001) at New Paltz High
School 7:30 p.m. Discussion to follow.
Monday, October 23
Dr. Arthur Spears (Chair, Anthropology, City College, CUNY), co-editor of
Black Linguistics: Language, Society and Politics in Africa and the
Americas (Routledge, 2003) and editor of Race, Ideology: Language,
Symbolism and Culture (Wayne State University Press, 1999), will hold a
symposium entitled "Haitian Creole: A Language's History, Culture, and
Legacy."
For more information and an updated listing of events please see
onebookonenewpaltz.org
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