212 Quotes by Edwidge Danticat

I very much love a physical book myself. I think people who have had this experience of also seeing a book come together, from sitting down and writing the first word, to holding the binding in your hand, we have a deeper sentimental attachment to it than others might.

We've had fiction from the time of cave drawings. I think fiction, storytelling, and narrative in general will always exist in some form.

To be able to create you have to have peace of mind on some level.

I'm not saying Cubans don't deserve asylum, but if it is a national security issue, there are people who are coming from Cuba on hijacked airplanes. Why isn't that a national security issue?

I think we all wear some kind of mask. There are masks that shield us from others, but there are masks that embolden us, and you see that in carnival. The shiest child puts on a mask and can do anything and be anybody.

Sometimes we mask ourselves to further reveal ourselves, and it's always been connected to me with being a writer: We tell lies to tell a greater truth. The story is a mask; the characters you create are masks. That appeals to me. Aside from that, too, in the carnival the masks were beautiful, and offered a vision of Haitian creativity.

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.

Once you're involved in the work, it's really just you and the characters and the words.

Being a shy child, I always longed for a mask. Even in my adult life, I have glasses, they are my mask.