I Think Novels Just Really Show Us

We've Had Fiction From The Time Of Cave Drawings. I Think Fiction, Storytelling, And Narrative In General Will Always Exist In Some Form.

Whole Interaction Between The Storyteller And The Listeners Had A Very Powerful Influence On Me.

People Often Think Of Haiti As A Place Where You're Not Supposed To Have Any Joy. I Wanted To Show That This Is A Place With Joy.

There Is This Split Between The Haiti Of Before The Earthquake And The Haiti Of After The Earthquake. So When I'm Writing Anything Set In Haiti Now, Whether Fiction Or Nonfiction, Always In The Back Of My Mind Is How People, Including Some Of My Own Family Members, Have Been Affected Not Just By History And By The Present But Also By The Earthquake.

Aids Was Something That Was Put Upon Us [as Haitians], And We Were Immediately Identified With It. That Is Unfair. That Is Unjust. I Always Say, "we Are All People Living With Aids." It's Not Like You Can Avoid It. It's Part Of Our World.