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 We don't know how we missed this since we have much love for Edwidge Danticat and Junot Díaz here at Backlist. The Fall 2007 issue of BOMB MAGAZINE featured an engaging conversation between Danticat and Díaz about the writing process and their novels, BROTHER I'M DYING and THE BRIEF AND WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO.
Edwidge Danticat: I think most folks would want me to ask you, those of us who’ve been waiting with bated breath for this book: What the heck took you so long? Junot Díaz: What, really, can one say? I’m a slow writer. Which is bad enough but given that I’m in a world where it’s considered abnormal if a writer doesn’t produce a book every year or two—it makes me look even worse. Ultimately the novel wouldn’t have it any other way. This book wanted x number of years out of my life. Perhaps I could have written a book in a shorter time but it wouldn’t have been this book and this was the book I wanted to write. Other reasons? I’m a crazy perfectionist. I suffer from crippling bouts of depression. I write two score pages for every one I keep. I hear this question and want to laugh and cry because there’s no answer. What I always want to ask other writers (and what I’ll ask you) is how can you write about something so soon after it’s happened? What’s to be gained by writing about something—say, the death of a father and uncle, as you do in your new book, BROTHER I'M DYING — when the moment is close?
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 Tananarive Due fans mark your calendars! Her next novel, BLOOD COLONY, will be published by Atria Books in June 2008.
She writes on her blog that this book will continue the journey of her immortals from her previous novels -- Dawit, Jessica, Lucas Shepard and Fana-- as they use their Living Blood to heal. "But it's not as simple as it sounds." Due writes. "Something as miraculous as this Blood was bound to draw unwanted attention, and so it does. Fana is 17 in this story, so BLOOD COLONY takes place in the year 2015, making it my first near-future novel."
That is all she will share for now. However, readers may want to keep an eye on her blog as she plans to post an exclusive excerpt of BLOOD COLONY early in the new year.
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 As promised, Essence magazine has announced the finalists for its first annual Literary Awards of 2008. Not surprisingly, best-sellers CASANEGRA (Tantor Media) by Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes and Tanarive Due, and NEW ENGLAND WHITE (Knopf) by Stephen L. Carter both make the shortlist for fiction. Other excellent titles such as Lalita Tademy's well-received RED RIVER (Grand Central Publishing), THE PIRATE'S DAUGHTER (Unbridled Books) by Margaret Cezair-Thompson, and Nuruddin Farah's KNOTS (Penguin) round out the fiction short-list.
Edwidge Danticat's BROTHER, I'M DYING (Knopf) makes the short-list for memoirs (naturally), along with Alek Wek's ALEK (HarperCollins), and the bestselling A LONG WAY GONE (Gale Group) by Ishmael Beah. THE WOMAN WHO RAISED ME (HarperCollins) by Victoria Rowell and ONE DROP (Little, Brown, and Co.) by Bliss Broyard also make the list.
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 Alice Walker has chosen Emory University as the home for her literary archive, which spans 40 years.
Walker, who was born in Eatonton, Ga., visits the university every couple of years for readings and meetings with faculty. The addition of the Dali Lama to the staff as a presidential distinguished scholar also played a role in Walker's choice. "I can imagine in years to come that my papers and memorabilia, my journals and letters, will find themselves always in the company of people who care about many of the things I do: culture, community, spirituality, scholarship and the blessings of ancestors who want each of us to find joy and happiness in this life, by doing the very best we can to be worthy of it," Walker said in a statement.
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 Junot Diaz's THE BRIEF LIFE OF OSCAR WAO (Penguin Group) has been on just about every "Best of 2007" list to come out so far this year (which makes WAO's classification as one of this year's publishing misses almost impossible to believe), so it's not really a surprise that when 12 leading Latino authors were asked to name their favorite books of 2007, Diaz's book got the the most votes.
Eduardo Lago, whose 2006 debut novel LLAMAME BROOKLYN (Planeta) won several Spanish awards, called it "a miracle in the current culture of junk entertainment," while Edmundo Paz Soldan, author of TURING'S DELIRIUM (Houghton Mifflin), said, ""It has everything for the demanding reader. Bursting with humor ... It's also the modern, painful story of the Dominican Republic and an account of the survival of many Latino immigrants in the U.S."
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