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Aker Edwidge Danticat and articulating a theme that would be...

Fadhinvestigator Says...

aker Edwidge Danticat and articulating a theme that would be explored throughout the symposium: the vital role that the archive played in Morrison's creative process and the myriad ways memory interplays with the archive in creating new work across genres.

Sprinkling a little water from her water bottle on the floral arrangement in front of the podium and uttering a Haitian blessing, Danticat exclaimed, "Here's to the next generation of Morrison readers."

She recalled meeting Morrison when she came to Princeton 15 years ago to deliver the second annual Toni Morrison Lectures.

"I spent half a year writing those talks because I knew Ms. Morrison was going to be in the front row and I was terrified," she said.

She needn't have been. At the dinner before the talk, Danticat confided to Morrison she felt guilty because she'd forgotten that evening was her daughter Mira's third birthday.

By the end of the dinner, a cupcake and a candle to blow out appeared for Mira.

Danticat, the author of "Breath, Eyes, Memory," "Krik?

Krak!," "The Dew Breaker," "Claire of the Sea Light" and other acclaimed works as well as books for young adults and children, said the power of memory speaks strongly to her. "Growing up in Haiti and Brooklyn my mother would say we have three deaths: when we stop breathing, when we're put in the ground, and when no one calls our names anymore or remembers us at all. There is no risk of this with Ms. Morrison.

We gather in places like this and we let her work guide us. She is present in all of us gathering here tonight and in her archives."

Morrison's work takes the reader on endless journeys, Danticat said. "You read it. Take a breather.

You rock yourself.

Yo

Posted April 1 2023 at 9:39 PM

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