Celebrate National Literacy Month by joining us for our September We Lit program!
In partnership with Riverchild Media and the Harlem Book Fair, our next installment of We Lit features Haitian author Francesca Momplaisir who will join us to discuss her book, “The Garden of Broken Things.”
ABOUT THE BOOK
Written before the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2021 comes a gripping novel about generations of women—mothers and daughters—and the 2010 quake that endangers one family on the brink and wakes the ghosts of their shared past.
Genevieve, a single mother, flies from New York to Port-au-Prince with her teenage son, Miles. The trip is meant to be an education for fifteen-year-old Miles—a chance to learn about his family’s roots while coming to terms with his father’s departure—but it’s also an excuse for Genevieve to escape the city, where her life is dominated by her failed marriage and the daily pressures of raising Black children in America. For Genevieve, the journey is also a homecoming of sorts: An opportunity to visit the island she remembers from childhood and reconnect with family. But when the country is rocked by a massive earthquake—decimating the city and putting their lives at risk—their visit becomes a nightmare of survival.
Teetering on the fault line of history and one family’s collapse, The Garden of Broken Things is an astonishing novel about restoration and disaster, motherhood, and the bonds that carry through generations.
We know that literacy is an act of revolution, in the spirit of recognizing the legacy of Haiti, the first Black independent nation in the world, we invite you to celebrate Haitian writers on September 5th and September 7th at the CCCADI Firehouse!
FRANCESCA MOMPLAISIER
Francesca is the author of “The Garden of Broken Things” and “My Mother’s House.” Born in Haiti, she is a multi-lingual scholar and novelist writing in English and Kreyol. Dr. Momplaisir studied at Columbia University, the University of Oxford, and New York University where she earned a doctorate in African and African diaspora literature. She is the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship to travel to Ghana to research the cultural retention of the transatlantic slave trade. Her debut novel was compared to Toni Morrison “at the height of her career” (Harper’s Bazaar) and made several best book lists including Elle and Vulture. She lives in the New York City metro area.
Lakay se Lakay
This program is part of CCCADI’s Lakay se Lakay series. Lakay se Lakay is a year-long homage that celebrates the legacy of Haiti, Our Black Nation. Lakay se Lakay is a cultural odyssey through which we dedicate much of our programming. Using the lens of Haitian arts and scholarship, CCCADI explores home as a space for refuge, building family and community, preservation of traditions, a foundation for cultivating joy, and the roots of sovereignty.
You can support this work by making a donation to CCCADI. Help us advance Pan-Caribbean and Pan-African connections so that together we may build a brighter AfroFuture.