Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky is a collection of narrative non-fiction stories from Haiti. This book is a unique opportunity for the world to hear the voice of this small country. It is currently being completed and there was a Kickstarter campaign to fund it, which ended with 202% funding!

Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky is a unique opportunity for the world to hear the voice of this small country. This collection shows the reality of Haiti by sharing the Haitians’ stories of everyday life and life-shaping moments. Diving deep into these moments, the reader will be able to humanize a country that is often forgotten and alienated. Everyone deserves to have a voice and share their story.

These snapshots of real life range from daily routines to life-altering decisions and events in people’s lives in Haiti, including stories of the daily search for clean water and a mother walking seven hours to get to a doctor for her sick child. These 48 stories range in length from 250 to 2,000 words – five stories have already been published in journals and magazines, including New Internationalist Magazine, Crack the Spine, and Yay! LA. These stories originated from interviews with locals in Jeremie, Haiti during a six month stay with Haiti Bible Mission.

Stories are a powerful thing. They contain truth, emotion, memory and the opportunity to try on another person’s shoes and see the world from their eyes. Too often people think of different ways of life as “other,” and almost less than human. Haiti is only 700 miles away from the United States, yet most Americans only know about the stereotypes–voodoo, poverty, corruption–and have quickly forgotten the earthquake that briefly brought Haiti to the world’s attention. Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky is a chance for the Haitians to prove that they are real people with complex lives who have compelling stories to tell.

The final book will contain the stories in both English and Creole, the language of Haiti. With both languages, those who are attempting to learn one of the languages will have the opportunity to practice by reading this book. There are many people (Haitian and American) who have looked for a book that was in English and Creole, but they never found one. It is also expanding the way we can share stories, and it is a way to keep these stories firmly connected to their roots.

As Toni Morrison said – “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

All of the stories in Seeds in a Dark Fruit Sky were collected by Rosie Alexander over six weeks in Jeremie, Haiti with the help of Haiti Bible Mission. All of the stories are being written in English by Rosie and  translated into Creole by a team in Haiti before being published.