Haiti Noir

Synopsis

Brand-new stories by: Edwidge Danticat Rodney Saint-Eloi Madison Smartt Bell Gary Victor M.J. Fievre Marvin Victor Yanick Lahens Louis-Philipe Dalembert Kettly Mars Marie Ketsia Theodore-Pharel Evelyne Trouillot Katia Ulysse Ibi Aanu Zoboi Nadine Pinede and others. "A wide-ranging collection from the beloved but besieged Caribbean island . . . The 36th entry in Akashic's Noir series is beautifully edited with a spectrum of voices."-- Kirkus Reviews From the introduction by Edwidge Danticat: I began working on this anthology about a year before January 12 2010 when Haiti was struck by its worst natural disaster in over two hundred years. The world knows now that more than two hundred thousand people died and over a million lost their homes in Haiti's capital and the surrounding cities of Leogane Petit-Goave and Jacmel. As I am writing these words survivors remain huddled by the thousands in displacement camps most shielding themselves from intermittent rain with nothing but wooden posts and bedsheets. Even before the earthquake life was not easy in Haiti. There was always the risk of dying from hunger an infectious disease a natural disaster or a crime. But there was also hope laughter and boundless creativity. Haitian creativity has always been one of the country's most identifiable survival traits. Whether expressed in vibrant and colorful paintings double entendre-filled spiritual or party music or the poignant humorous erotic lyrical (and yes also dark) short stories and novels of its writers Haiti's more nuanced and complex face often comes across in its arts . . . I can honestly say that in spite of the difficult circumstances in Haiti right now I have never felt a greater sense of joy working on any collective project than I have on this book.