Hey, it's Empir's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Edwidge Dantica is one of my favorite

writers. I remember reading her short story collection Crick Crack and being straight up blown away

at how honest and clear-eyed she was about what it's like to move to the U.S. from Haiti.

Now, Haiti has experienced a lot of struggles since that

book came out, and Dantica has a new essay collection out now that takes that same clear-eyed

approach to the present day. It's titled, We're Alone, and she spoke with NPR's R. Shapiro

about her complicated feelings when it comes to waxing nostalgic about home, why she finds the term

resilience lacking, and the Haitian word she'd rather use instead. That's ahead.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky

conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show,

Sources and Methods. NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,

helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Edwidge Dantika writes this about Haiti, the country where she was born.

Quote, I am from a place that constantly evokes nostalgia in the people who have seen,

lived, and loved it before.

This longing for before always saddens me because it makes the present seem even worse.

That comes from a piece in her new essay collection, We're Alone, which is out tomorrow.

When I asked her to describe that nostalgia, she said it's related to a feeling that every immigrant

experiences, but even more so given conditions in Haiti.

Yeah, I think it's a bit more acute for anybody from a place around the world that's in

distress because you're actually living two lives. Like I know in Haitian families, like my Haitian

...