Danticat's Krik? Krak! is a collection of short stories set in Haiti. The title comes from a traditional Haitian custom of listeners asking "Krik?" before a story is told. The teller answers, "Krak," and begins the tale.

Danticat's The Farming of Bones is a novel set during the 1937 mass genocide of Haitians by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo Molina; it vividly shows the brutal existence of workers in the sugar cane fields.

Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica, by African-American writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, examines spiritual beliefs in these two countries.

The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier,by Amy Wilentz, is a vivid portrait of Haiti in the late 1980s, and provides a clear examination of the parade of dictators and terrorists who have ruled the country since Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

All Souls'...