Letter from Florence Alexis to James Baldwin
| Title | Letter from Florence Alexis to James Baldwin |
|---|---|
| Subject | Baldwin, James, 1924-1987 |
| Alexis, Florence | |
| Alexis, Jacques Stéphen, 1922-1961 | |
| Description | A letter from Florence Alexis, daughter of Haitian novelist and poet Jacques Stephen Alexis, to James Baldwin. |
| Creator | Alexis, Florence |
| Source | Department of Ethnic Studies records; UA-0066; Center for Archival Collections; University Libraries; Bowling Green State University |
| Date | 1979-08-14 |
| Rights |
|
| Format | Correspondence |
| application/pdf | |
| Language | fra |
| eng | |
| Identifier | UA00066_b006_BaldwinJames1978_i00019 |
| https://digitalgallery.bgsu.edu/items/show/30607 | |
| Spatial Coverage | Paris (France) |
| Rights Holder | Alexis, Florence |
| Type | Text |
My dear James, I am writing these few words to let you know the pleasure and joy I had, we had when spending time with you. It is a very important event for me, a moment I will not forget. You are part of people (among) who connect (link) me to my father, who I did not have the time to know but who is for me an example a pioneer and writer I admire; though he did not have time to give the best if himself or else perhaps he gave the best of himself, his maximum in a short period of time? It may be just like a shooting star. You are a link, a bridge with a mysterious part of my past...and perhaps you can help me to keep him alive through his books. I really would like to find somebody who would like to translate Jacques Stephen Alexis in English, particularly the last novel: "In the Flicker of an Eyelid," which is a superb (wonderful) book that Anglophone (English-speakers -- Americans, Antilleans, or West Indies and Africans) must discover as soon as possible. Maybe you could help me find someone interested in the work? It is so important to me! So that he did not write for anything; so that he did not suffer for anything, so that he did not die uselessly. Otherwise, i would be really interested to accompany you to Moscow to take care of the authors' rights and the literary work, and to meet the members of the Union of Soviet writers. Would you mind giving me the details of your trip - date, duration and the circumstances why you are going. That would help me organize and plan for my trip and my stay there and to request for a visa. Since I have been back to Paris I have read again "No Name in the Street" and I greatly have enjoyed it. This book represented for me a chapter of our memoir and history. Thank you to write, to be and to survive (as you say)...Randy, Abdulaye, and me we send you love...Abdul sends you that love in an image with few words in the back of the photos. We do hope to see you soon. Let me hear about you. God bless you, precious Bernard and superb Frederic. Your young sister, Florence Alexis |
