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Interview with CHERENFANT

I met Elsie Augustave not too far from Times Square in a cold Thursday evening. She wore a black fur collar coat and her hands were busy with a canvas bag and a purse hinting at her life as a teacher at the Stuyvesant High School in New York. After a "quick" stop, we made our way to the last floor of a building to talk about her debut novel Continue reading...

Interview with Kreyolicious

You were born in Haiti. At which point did you leave?
I left Haiti in 1967 after completing my elementary schooling.

What do you remember about your time there?
I remember many things, especially my summer vacations in Las Cahobas and Cabaret where my parents originated. There were always a lot of people around in either place. Imagine, my father had eight siblings and my mother eleven, and it was the custom on both sides of the family for everyone to send their children to their parents’ home in the summer. Now that was a whole lot of cousins in one place! I also recall that we used to go to the river to bathe. What I remember most were the folktales that people told at night and that captivated me.
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Interview with People Who Write 

What inspired you to write The Roving Tree
As I began writing the novel, I could not help focusing on the two months I spent in Haiti with a research grant to study Haitian folk life and the Vodou religion. I also decided, during the process, to address historical and political issues that are meaningful to me. And, as I tried to decide on the plot, I recalled hearing that the daughter of a woman who worked for my grandmother had been adopted by a French missionary couple, and I began to imagine her life in a foreign land, away from everything and everyone she knew. It is my hope that with The Roving Tree, readers will discover the cultural, social, and political life of Haiti and Zaire during specific eras. 

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Interview with forcoloredgurls.com

How did you become interested in writing and becoming an author?
As a child in Haiti, I discovered the magical world of fiction, where imagination is limitless. Fascinated, I began to wish to penetrate that mysterious world that words can create. But that desire remained a well-kept secret for a long time because I didn’t think ordinary people like me could become writers. However, that view changed after I developed friendships with prominent writers in Senegal, while living there as a Fulbright scholar. Spending time in their company demystified my previous thought and gave me courage to write. As I began to write, I realized that it is my mission in life.

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Interview with The Writer Librarian 

Your website bio states that you were born in Haiti and studied foreign language and literature at Howard University. Did this influence your writing, and can you tell us more about your journey toward publication?

The years I spent studying literature at Howard University exposed me to works by African and Caribbean writers that nourished my desire to return to Haiti and to travel to Africa. Those writers also made me realize, through their writings, that the human experience is limitless. Most of all, it was during those graduate school years that my interest in my native country peeked, and I began to pay closer attention to the socio-political dynamics of Haiti as well as traditional beliefs. When I decided to write a novel, those earlier interests and experiences guided me, and I couldn’t help but address them as I tried to understand the atavistic nature of African beliefs. It took a long time for the book to reach completion since I was only able to work on it sporadically. After years of determination, hard work, and patience, THE ROVING TREE was presented to Akashic Books and its Open Lens imprint, and the book got published. 

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Message via Voices From Haiti

ELSIE AUGUSTAVE, AUTHOR OF THE ROVING TREE, SENDS WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR

People in many countries of the world celebrate the first of January as it represents new beginnings, new opportunities, new dreams, and new hopes. But for us Haitians, it is also a time to celebrate our pride in a nation that marked world history.

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Interview with Island Fuse

IFE: The Roving Tree is your debut novel. What inspired you to write this book?   

Elsie Augustave: I have always been fascinated with stories and the art of story-telling. Therefore, it is not surprising that I began to nurture a desire to write a novel when I was a teenager. When I finally made up my mind to stop fantasizing and to move into action, I had to decide what I was going to write about. During that period of decision-making, I continuously thought about the months I had  spent in Haiti, researching folklore and the Vodou religion and felt compelled to include those topics in my work. I also recalled a story I had heard, while in Haiti, about a young girl from a peasant, illiterate background, who had been adopted by a French couple that took her back to France with them. As I tried to imagine the girl’s life away from Haiti, the plot of The Roving Tree began to take shape.

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Interview with Grub Street 

When do you feel most like a writer?

Being able to use written words to communicate ideas or to tell a story was not enough to make me feel like a writer. The fact that my novel was accepted for publication did not quite convince me either. It is only when I read reviews of my novel that I realize that creativity and the use of language have allowed me to take others on meaningful physical and emotional journeys. And that, to me, is the role of a writer. A fiction writer brings a reader into characters’ world as they connect with their feelings.

What’s the single best thing a writer can do to build a platform?

I’d like to begin by saying that the word “platform” has become synonymous to marketing. It is a metaphor for activities that you engage in to get your work and your name noticed by the public. This said, I will add that nowadays social media is the most common and the most affordable means of marketing a writer can utilize to effectively distribute messages and share beliefs, values, thoughts, and emotions that could connect him with potential readers.

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Interview with Haitian International Pulse

The Roving Tree is your first novel and it’s been reported that it took you over 20 years to write it. What prompted you to start the writing process and why did it take so long?

The answer to the question you posed is not as interesting as one might have expected. Writing is something I always wanted to do, even if the circumstances did not allow me to be consistent. When I decided to write the book, I was a single parent with no network and no support. Therefore, writing was always on the back burner until summer vacations, when my son would be at camp. Then again, I remember times when many years would go by without my looking at the manuscript because of exhaustion or discouragement.

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Interview with Words of Colour 

Tell me about your writing journey so far.
The journey has been long and hopeful. I had no previous experience with the craft when I began writing fiction, but since I was determined to achieve my goal I learned it along the way. Years later, a friend of mine took the manuscript [of The Roving Tree] to Marie D. Brown who then recommended it to Open Lens, an imprint of Akashic Books. The Roving Tree was subsequently published in May 2013, and I am pleased to report that the reviews and comments have been encouraging.

What is it about the topic of transatlantic adoption that appeals to you?
After I made up my mind to write a novel, I thought about a story I had heard in Haiti about a young girl who had been adopted by a French couple. I began to imagine that girl’s new life and the issues she might encounter in a foreign land with a new family that looks nothing like her.

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Interview with Examiner 

FR: How would you describe your experience writing this story?

EA: Writing The Roving Tree was an outlet to delve into creativity, as it made me realize there is no limit to a person’s imagination.

FR: How much do you think Iris, the protagonist, mirrors you?

EA: Even though Iris and I grew up in very different settings, we do have the love of dance in common. I also believe the protagonist used some of my experiences to tell her story.

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Interview with Monty Kobby 

It's your first published novel, Elsie. Is this also your first attempt at writing or publishing a novel, or are there any other manuscripts lurking in dusty drawers waiting to be recovered?

It is indeed my very first attempt at writing fiction. Prior to that, I had only written papers for my classes when I was in school and a thesis for a Masters degree.

Describe your creative process for me, please. When do you write? How long do you write? Do you write longhand or type? What sort of technology do you use, and at what stage does it enter the process? Where do you write: do you sit on the same desk as usually for instance, or do you have any quirky habits? 

Initially, I started writing The Roving Tree in notebooks that I carried with me everywhere. I now use a computer, but whenever I have difficulty constructing a scene or expressing a thought, it becomes easier when I pick up a pen. Something magical happens when a pen touches paper. And, considering that I have other professional commitments, I write whenever or wherever I can.   

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