By Marlene L. Daut
This past weekend (Sept. 26-27, 2025), I had the delightful opportunity to participate in one of the best book fairs I have ever attended: the Delaware History Book Festival. Only 17 writers get the honor to join the conversation each year, so it was especially meaningful that the committee selected The First and Last King of Haiti. In this moment when the enemies of humanity, and seemingly all that is good in the world, seek to distort, reshape, and suffocate history and historians to suit nefarious ideological purposes, an entire event dedicated to the deadly serious craft of justice in history-telling felt not only special, but urgent.
The festival, which took place in the beautiful setting of historic Lewes, Delaware had both popular and academic historians, journalists, and even novelists among the participants. The topics of the selected books were just as multivalent, ranging from covering the pre-history of the earth, to a sweeping history of women’s creativity, to the lives of King Tut, Eve Fuentes, and Captain Cook, to the fascinating story of the Bibb lettuce family, to the Civil Rights movement and racial violence in Mississippi, to the devastating tale of how European colonists dispossessed the Wampanoags of Martha’s Vineyard. Each of these author presentations were truly well attended, and the audience members really bought the books en masse, too.
My presentation on King Henry, in fact, had standing room only, and one man came up to me afterward and said that I should have requested a bigger room! But I think what will most stay with me are all the conversations I had with audience members who shared their stories, experiences, and connections to Haiti.
With everything going on in Haiti and across the world right now, I truly appreciate talking to people who are eager to read beyond the headlines. It is so very gratifying to have conversations with those who are learning, many for the first time, about the deep history that has linked together Haiti and the United States, for example, and to watch in real time as they come to recognize and understand the global significance of the Haitian Revolution, which resulted in Haiti becoming the first independent state in the modern world to permanently abolish slavery.
The Haitian Revolution was truly of world-historical consequence, and to see my efforts to spread this knowledge around the world affirmed, recognized, and applauded (a man in the audience prefaced his comments in the Q&A by saying “I can tell you are a great teacher!”) reminds me that, come what may, I must always hold fast to my purpose and principles: truth, love, and justice.
So, I say to the other authors, the amazing attendees, and all the dedicated community volunteers who have made this festival happen every year for the past eight years, thank you for reminding us all that, in the words of the late and great Haitian radio personality Jean Léopold Dominique, “You cannot kill the truth.”
To cite this article: Marlene L. Daut, "'You Cannot Kill the Truth': Brief Reflections on the Delaware History Book Festival," King of Haiti's World Blog, September 29, 2025 <https://marlenedaut.com/blog/you-cannot-kill-the-truth-brief-reflections-on-the-delaware-history-book>