This event was recorded on October 8, 2026 at TACAW, produced by Mitzi Rapkin, in partnership with Aspen Public Radio.
First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing is a literary podcast produced and hosted by Mitzi Rapkin. Each week the podcast features an in-depth interview with a fiction, non-fiction, essay, or poetry writer. The show is equal parts investigation into the craft of writing and conversation about the topics of an author’s work.
ABOUT DÈY
Taking as its title a Haitian Kreyòl word for mourning, Dèy is a profoundly warm and moving novel about the importance not only of sharing grief but also of inseverable family ties. Magnolia, a successful Haitian American real estate agent in Miami, hears the terrifying sounds of gunfire while shopping at a mall for her daughter’s first-ever cell phone; she takes shelter in a restaurant called Oasis, cowering with fellow shoppers and diners, each praying to their respective gods. Once she’s safely home, Magnolia hides the fact that she was at the mall shooting from everyone close to her. But given her life back, she begins to see all the challenges and beauty in her family life and wonders if love and family could protect us from harm and does fear or optimism win in one’s heart and soul. Magnolia is pulled between these questions which mean high-stakes choices for her life.
ABOUT EDWIDGE DANTICAT
Edwidge Danticat is the author of numerous books, including The Art of Death, a National Book Critics Circle finalist; Claire of the Sea Light, a New York Times Notable Book; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and National Book Award finalist; The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah’s Book Club selection; and Krik? Krak!, also a National Book Award finalist. A Neustadt International Prize for Literature winner and the recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant, she has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and elsewhere.
ABOUT MITZI RAPKIN
Mitzi Rapkin is the founder, host and producer of the literary podcast, “First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing,” which features a new author interview each week. She has interviewed more than 500 contemporary writers of fiction, nonfiction, essays, and poetry over the past eleven years. Her conversations explore essential questions about what it means to be human alongside the craft of writing and the themes of the writers’ works. Rapkin is also a journalist, fiction writer, certified integral coach, facilitator, and fiction-writing instructor.
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