Fabienne Josaphat looks like a junior Toni Morrison with her thick shoulder-length thick braids. And she certainly looks like an author. She’s just published her first novel Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow, a historical novel about one brother who puts his life in danger to save his sibling.

The author is a graduate of Florida International University’s Master of Fine Arts program, and previously had her work anthologized in MJ Fievre’s anthology So Spoke The Earth. Born in Haiti, she moved to the United States in her late teens and currently resides in Florida.

Kreyolicious: What are your memories of growing up in Haiti?
So I remember Haiti the way it was in the eighties and nineties, always in turmoil but still intact and trying to piece itself together every day despite the protests and violence. I remember its physical beauty. And I have memories of a relatively normal childhood there, minus the political unrest. When I visit Haiti these days, I try to relive those memories, and the challenge is to find them in the aftermath of an earthquake. Migrating to America was a complete culture shock, because the landscape and the people are different, and I had to learn to fit in this complex tapestry. I am still trying.

Kreyolicious: We might as well as say all writers have a fondness for books. How did your love of books begin?
My parents made books a reward for me when I was young, so good grades earned me a trip to the bookstore. My grandfather was a gifted storyteller, and my parents read me stories all the time. That is how it all started: loving books as companions, as things that are alive and that can allow you to escape, or bring you comfort.

Kreyolicious: Why did you choose to write about mid-1960s Haiti?
The history of that era is always narrated in one-dimension. It is also told in the voice of historians and foreigners a lot. But I felt it would be interesting to understand that era through fictional characters. So I exploited the history in that way. It’s a very fascinating piece of our lives that has been erased from children’s history books. I wanted to contribute something to that.

Kreyolicious: As you were conceptualizing your book, did you feel that you had to write about ensemble female characters, as opposed to a cast of males that it eventually became?
The story had always existed in my mind as a story between two brothers. The female characters in the book find themselves revolving around them, but they aren’t necessarily weak. They exist. They make choices and decisions, too, which leads the male characters to act. One reason for the choice of male characters is the inspiration for my story. This is a narrative loosely based on my father and my uncle, so the moment the story was conceptualized, the characters came alive in my mind as men.

Kreyolicious: What was the research process like for you?
I had to do a lot of research—reading, interviewing—and it was fun. I love to research historical events because it’s a learning opportunity for me. But mostly, the research brought me to dark places. I discovered a lot about our history that was disturbing, that left me speechless, and it was so dark that at times it took me days to shake off the sense of dread I carried with me. I take research very seriously, so I invested a great deal of myself into the work.

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Two brothers dominate author Fabienne Josaphat’s first novel Dancing in the Baron’s Shadow. Having the word “dancing” in the book’s title, indicates a sort of celebration. There’s not much feasting for the main characters Raymond and Nicolas. The novel, which takes place in Haiti in the mid-60s, chronicles the lives of these brothers as they endure imprisonment and torture for their personal stances.

In Part I of the interview, we discussed her background. This time, we’ll discuss her writing process more in depth. CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH FABIENNE JOSAPHAT!

Kreyolicious: Did you have other titles for your book before you settled on that one?
I had a few. None of them worked. I liked this one because it fits the concept of the Baron Samedi persona of Papa Doc, and it captures the essence of what it is like to dance with death as a means of escape.

Kreyolicious: And when you were done with your first draft…what steps did you take to get it into its final form?
The first draft was just one layer. By the second and third drafts, I had to add flesh to the story. I needed to make the characters more complex, more dimensional, and I needed the plot to be as tight and precise as possible. That meant a lot of editing and rethinking which characters were necessary, which ones had to be cut, which details to change, etc.

Photo Credit: Gesi Schilling

Kreyolicious: If you were to make a list of your five most favorite fiction novels…what would you say they were?
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, General Sun, My Brother by Jacques Stephen Alexis, Masters of the Dew by Jacques Roumain, and Blindness by José Saramago.

Kreyolicious: Have you already begun work on your next novel?
Yes, I have. I can’t talk about it much, but I am very excited. It’s historical again.

Kreyolicious: Do you see Haiti always playing a role, and always having a place in your writing?
I used to think it would, and maybe it will for a long time, but I definitely see myself exploring characters who would be “global citizens,” or places that would ground readers regardless of their background. I hope to branch out.
 
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE FABIENNE JOSAPHAT’S NOVEL!

CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED PART ONE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH FABIENNE JOSAPHAT!

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BOOK-RELATED ARTICLES ON MY SITE!