Overview

The extraordinary life of Marilène Phipps began in Haiti-the magical island of African Vodou gods who followed their devotees on the slave ships, and the world's first black republic-the singular cultural context and exotic milieu of the Caribbean, where hell and paradise can transfix us daily. In this powerful memoir, we enter the lives of a family who are both descendants of European aristocrats and African slaves. We meet Phipps's godfather, the rebel leader Guslé Villedrouin, and we relive her experiences with Vodou priests and spirits, a cold-eyed pope, a charismatic Muslim astrologer, Catholic monks and exorcists, American Mormon bishops, scholars and missionaries. Through it all, we are stirred by the antithetical feel of entitlement and destitution, barbarism and lyricism, infinity and insanity. The 2010 earthquake in Haiti brings a collapse to Phipps's world, but is also the start for her to find modern answers to the ancient questions, ""Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?""

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9781960250414

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MARILÈNE PHIPPS was born and grew up in Haiti. She is a member of the Academy of American Poets and a recipient of the NAACP's Award of Excellence for outstanding commitment in advancing the culture and causes for communities of color. Phipps held fellowships at the Guggenheim Foundation, Harvard's Bunting Institute, the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research, and the Center for the Study of World Religions. Her collection, The Company of Heaven: Stories from Haiti, won the 2010 Iowa Short fiction Award. Her poetry won the 1993 Grolier prize, and her collection, Crossroads and Unholy Water, won the Crab Orchard Poetry Prize. Her autobiographical novel House of Fossils was published by Calumet Editions. She has contributed to American anthologies and collections such as The Best American Short Stories; Haiti Noir: The Classics; The Beacon Best; Ploughshares; River Styx; Callaloo; and Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and she edited Jack Kerouac Collected Poems for The Library of America. Her website is at www.marilenephipps.com.

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