opinions to ripen, none of this was really true but it was in our interest for him to say that. oddly enough jefferson really did absorb some of his radical feeling over there in france. and before he left he set down a plan and told people about. he told thomas paine. he told will ensure. a total number of other abolitionists over there when he got back to america he was going to train slaves, who's going to sell them on land as sharecroppers, and the certainty they would become good citizens and free people in the united states. but when he got back to the united states, things changed. >> you can watch this and other programs on line at booktv.org. >> next, edwidge danticat, a contributor to the anthology, so spoke the earth, talk to booktv about the anthology and aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in haiti.

>> well now, joining us here on our booktv set is edwidge ys is danticat, who is an author, and t most recent book is "so spokes the earth: the haiti i know, the haiti i wantto know." edwidge danticat come in thhaiti january 2010, where were you? >> on january 2010 i was here in miami. i was in a supermarket with myus daughter when someone called me and said that there had been and earthquake in haiti. rthquake in. of course, so many lives were changed on. i lost so many family and friends in and the country lost something like 200,000 people. >> host: when was your first visit down to haiti? >> i had a very little bit at that time. i went to see some family and

friends and see how they were doing. >> host: so you got to haiti three weeks after the earthquake. what was it like when you got their. >> guest: it was difficult to see all that disruption, to see all the suffering of people were going through. but nothing like it was working actually living there at that time. you know, at that moment, there is something like 10 million and have people living like that. now it's close to half a million. which is still tragic. especially in hurricane season. and there was so much, you know it's so much loss. people were also very strong. people had come so close to death and tragedy and they had loved so much. they were helping their neighbors the best they can to survive, just as people are doing to this day i. >> host: before we get into your book, "so spoke the earth", it's

been out nearly three years. why are you doing to assist these people, yes and spent almost two years, people have been -- some have been forcibly relocated. and i don't know exactly why that many people are living like that. elections and we have a new government. a lot of it is promised has not come through. but people have individual efforts and how, in some ways -- they have picked themselves up last week that they can. but it is a question that we have to keep asking and something that we have to model allows people to get that for

example, hurricane sandy 80 people are not happy with what he something like that that inner-city when you are living in a tent. there is something like 74,000 acres of land we are still going dealing with a very urgent and difficult situation in haiti. >> host: where did your book, "so spoke the earth" come from? >> guest: it came from women writers of haitian descent.

it is the navigation of patients to tell their stories and these groups of women, the edited this anthology. it is "so spoke the earth: the haiti i knew, the haiti i know, the haiti i want to know." different women talk about this. it is a trilingual anthology in english, french, and creole. it's generational. we talk about the people who were surviving it. we talk about their friends and neighbors. there is an opportunity for people who don't know much about haiti to get to know katie through a variety of women writers wasted. >> host: is creole very different from french? >> guest: creel -- creole is a

language of its own. it came from the french, spanish, english, all of these people came to haiti. and so creole is a very beautiful language. it is often maligned language, even within haiti. poems and stories and it's also an opportunity to celebrate language and celebrate creole. if you live here and grew up here is a haitian american or a haitian person, we wanted to present the anthology of what it is to have all of these voices together. >> host: bespeak all three? >> i do, yes. what is your story about?

>> to grow growth and a haitian household, your parents are always talking about this. it's about a family. they are earthquake stories. they are poems, all kinds of stories in this book. >> host: joining me is edwidge danticat. she is one of the authors about a new haitian anthology. she is also a new book critic circle award winner. and you were over, is that

right? >> guest: yes, i got the great honor of meeting oprah. in your book,. >> host: in your book, "brother, i'm dying", what was that about? >> guest: that was my memoir. it was said here in south florida where my uncle died in immigration custody. my father was was also dying out pulmonary finals >> host: edwidge danticat is our author. author of "so spoke the earth." we have a caller.

>> caller: i would like to ask about the haiti earthquake, it was caused and when it hit haiti -- it is one of your familiar with any of that information? >> guest: i have heard that theory that the earthquake might've been man caused. you know, i don't dismiss anything out right. we have been seeing a lot of interesting seismic activity. but i have heard that theory. and it was the fourth right after the earthquake happened. sometimes we just hear something and we think it sounds crazy, and in 30 years later, there is a file that open. so i don't dismiss it outright it off.

>> host: edwidge danticat, is not a theory that is discussed widely in haiti? >> guest: well, it had been mentioned, but when something like this happens, we most talk about is the theory that is more -- and i think that is because of something we can do about it, is the things we are doing to the environment, making these things more unbearable. construction, an earthquake there was one in chile that killed less than a hundred people, fewer than a hundred people. all of these things, and people have been forced to leave the countryside, to come to the city. so we often also discussed these

things and how devotion in the land -- how it causes us to have these massive mudslides and flooding when a hurricane goes through. these things, they are more of the things that we can do something about as a community. but these other theories, they are also talked about. >> host: in reading through your book, "so spoke the earth: the haiti i knew, the haiti i know, the haiti i want to know", i was struck that so many writers return to haiti. >> guest: i think so many of us come as children. we were a lot like our parents. arkansas like they had no choice to leave. so you do have this yearning for your country.

and i have a lot of family that i did quite a lot. but there is this yearning, things that are parents described as a paradise and things to fear. so you're into know the truth, the actuality of it for yourself. there is that yearning with the question of whether you would be able to go back, will he really go back. a lot of people have gone back to deal with these problems and i feel that a whole new generation since the earthquake, they are committed to doing that and making sure that haiti has the future that it deserves. >> host: who is sweet nicky?

>> guest: that is the nickname of our president. >> host: you say that so much more beautiful than i do. how is he doing? >> guest: tomorrow is a very important anniversary in haiti. a crucial battle of haitian independence. and there has been some demonstration throughout haiti. the problems are urgent. there are some very urgent problems and people are seeking solutions from him. >> host: unfortunately we are out of time with edwidge danticat. "so spoke the earth: the haiti i knew, the haiti i

>> booktv is on facebook. like us to interact with booktv guests with booktv gas and used to watch videos and get up-to-date information on events. facebook.com/booktv. >> with one month left in 2012, many publications are putting together their year-end lists of notable books. of tv will feature several of these lists focusing on nonfiction selections. these nonfiction titles were included in "the new york times" 100 notable books of 2012.