Detroit Noir editors on WDET 101.9 FM
Posted on November 1, 2007
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We have been invited onto the Detroit Today program to discuss and read from Detroit Noir, this coming Friday, November 2 at 11:00 a.m.
Please tune in!
EJO & JCH
Havana Noir editor will read at Detroit Noir events
Posted on October 29, 2007
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We are pleased to announce that Achy Obejas will join us at two Detroit Noir events to read from Havana Noir:
+ Thurs., November 15, 7:30pm at The Scarab Club, 217 Farnsworth, Detroit, MI
+ Fri., November 16, 7pm at Borders Birmingham, 34300 Woodward, Birmingham, MI
Here’s brief bio of of Achy and her work:
Achy Obejas is the award-winning author of Days of Awe, Memory Mambo, and We Came all the Way from Cuba So You Could Dress Like This? Her poems, stories, and essays have appeared in dozens of anthologies. A long-time contributor to the Chicago Tribune, she was part of the 2001 investigative team that earned a Pulitzer Prize for the series, “Gateway to Gridlock.” Currently, she is the Sor Juana Writer-in-Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. She was born in Havana.
Please don’t miss this opportunity!
EJO & JCH
Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor Desiree Cooper
Posted on October 24, 2007
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Desiree Cooper is a columnist for the Detroit Free Press, a frequent contributor to National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and cohost of American Public Media’s Weekend America. She lives in Detroit with her husband and two children.
Nikki added more hot water to her bath and closed her eyes. She remembered her first Halloween in Palmer Woods. How she’d gone and bought three bags of candy, even though she’d seen very few children in the neighborhood.
That Halloween had been particularly cold, and she’d wondered how the children were going to show off their angel wings and Superman capes if they were bundled up like Eskimos. She’d just come home from work and barely had a bowl of soup before the doorbell rang.
She’d put on her witch’s hat and run to the door, expecting to see tiny tots hollering, “Trick or Treat!” Instead, there were adults and teenagers, most with only half-cocked attempt at a costume—the stark white face paint of the “Dead Presidents,” or a terrifying Freddy Krueger mask-holding out a pillowcase for candy. They came in droves all night, kids tumbling out of buses and church vans, and the hungry adults vying with them for the best candy.
The enormity of it had shocked and depressed her. As she opened the door, some of them peeked inside. “You have a nice house,” they said and she’d blushed, Marie Antionette doling out her little pieces of cake.
Within an hour after sunset, she’d given away all of her candy and had started combing the kitchen for bags of chips, apples, anything. She’d finally closed the door and turned off all of the lights, trembling. And still, the footsteps came.
That was Detroit. A city where there was no place to hide.
–From “Night Coming” by Desiree Cooper
What are the challenges (if any) in writing about Detroit ?
As someone who is loyal to Detroit , it’s hard to write about the city’s problems without feeling like I’m betraying it.
Detroit is, in fact, a gritty town that has been down on its luck more often than not in recent decades. But it is also a city with an amazing history, beautiful neighborhoods, great people and an undying hope. It has a spectacular history of achievement in the African American community. These things are seldom written about. It always makes me cringe to read things about Detroit that furthers the negative stereotypes.
That poses a particular problem when writing noir, which is not a rosy genre. The way I overcame this challenge was to set it among black professionals in one of Detroit’s premier neighborhoods, as a way of bringing attention to a seldom-reported dimension of city life.
Have you written other fiction set in Detroit ?
No. My obsession is with the South. Both of my parents are from Virginia and I spent some of my formative years growing up there.
What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style?
The best noir is understated and subtle. It creates suspense and fear through restraint, not mayhem. It gets under your skin and you can’t scratch it off. There’s a fine art to that, and I admire writers who can do it.
Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
The story of the couple and their conflict is fictional, but Nikki sees Detroit the way I saw it after moving here in 1984. Then I was a young lawyer and was amazed at how poverty co-existed with wealth, the haves living blocks away from the have-nots. Ultimately, I wrote a story about the class divide, one that is very palpable in Detroit The “nail figure” actually exists in the Detroit Institute of Arts.
If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be?
I’m working on a novel based upon my grandmother’s life in rural Virginia in the 1900s. I would love to see it published one day, as an ode to her sacrifices and as a legacy for my own daughter.
Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader? Why?
My favorite quote is from Gwendolyn Brooks who said, “One wants a Teller in a time like this.” I think stories should bring people to a particular place in time, and communicate with the reader, heart-to-heart. Stories can pave the way to empathy and compassion, something I strive for in my writing.
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Lately, I’ve been feasting upon Kate Atkinson. Her crime thrillers have respect for both the living and the dead, and the human disasters they suffer in between.
And I’m in love with the great storytellers who help us walk a mile in someone else’s shoes: Pearl Buck, Carol Shields, Alice Walker and William Faulkner.
Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
Eminem. He and Kim are a spectator sport.
Q&A with Detroit Noir contributor Joe Boland
Posted on October 16, 2007
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Joe Boland was born in Detroit, and has lived and worked in the area his entire life. He is currently writing a crime novel.
Stoner had a bad feeling: He knew exactly what Hawkins was getting at.
“I’m serious. You look like a cop to me.”
“That’s just the uniforms, in the dark.”
“That’s what I’m saying.” Hawkins dragged on his smoke. “I think we oughta take a little walk around, see what we can do.”
“Man, what are you talking about?”
“We wouldn’t have to be good cops, dude,” he said, grinning now. “That’s what I’m talking about.”
–From “The Night Watchman Is Asleep.” by Joe Boland
What is it like to write about Detroit?
Growing up around here, and being a big reader and a fan of crime fiction, made it harder, if anything. Loren Estleman, Elmore Leonard, Tom Kakonis – they really nailed down Detroit, twenty-odd years ago. They were big boys, and they scared me off.
Have you written other fiction set in Detroit?
No. “The Night Watchman Is Asleep” is my first published story.
What attracts you to the (broadly-defined) Noir style?
Like anyone else, I grew up reading stories with heroes, and that’s what my lizard brain still expects whenever I crack open a book. Noir is a sucker punch every time. The protagonist always winds up less than heroic, to put it mildly, and you always feel implicated in the bad stuff that happens. There’s always a point where I think: That light at the end of the tunnel is a train; you should put this book down and walk away…but I never do. I love that feeling. It’s cathartic in the worst way. It’s a let’s-drink-up-the-rent-money feeling. It’s a great corrective to the insipid lengths America will go to concoct a hero for every situation.
Is your story based on, or overtly influenced by, actual events?
The bit about posing as cops to rob people: I’m sure it happens in a lot of big cities, but it seems to happen regularly in Detroit. And the background noise in the story about the mayor and his security team is still playing out in the news.
If you could write anything and see it published, what would it be?
I’d like to see the novel I’m working on published. It’s crime fiction.
Is there any particular effect you want your writing to have on the reader? Why?
I’ll often sit down to read with the television on, and music on the stereo, and the next time I lift my head out of the book the ball game’s long over and I can’t recall what album was playing. I want to have that effect on a reader. Anything beyond that is gravy.
Please tell us an author you admire whose work isn’t as well known as it should be.
The novel that really grabbed me this year was The Art of Losing by Keith Dixon. It has a lot of familiar noir elements, but takes them new places, and it gave me a case of the deep Catholic jitters.
What’s the second-best book in the Akashic Noir series?
Dublin Noir is just brutal.
Detroit speed round: Eminem or the White Stripes?
The White Stripes. Get well soon, Meg.
Detroit Noir mentioned on The Rap Sheet
Posted on October 16, 2007
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Detroit Noir got another plug over on The Rap Sheet:
http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2007/09/war-and-police.html
(about 2/3 down the page)
Here’s the text:
… Akashic Books’ growing series of “Noir” short-story anthologies continues to demonstrate its strength, with Glenn Harper of the nicely redesigned blog International Noir Fiction, celebrating the new publication of Havana Noir, edited by Achy Obejas, “the first [book in this series] based on a non-Anglo culture.” I’m looking forward, as well, to Detroit Noir, due out in November and edited by E.J. Olsen [and John C. Hocking] …
We’ve been huge fans of the Akashic Noir series since its inception, and we feel it’s just getting better and better. We’re looking forward to Havana Noir ourselves, but really, any of the books in the series are a good bet. Please go buy them now.
- EJO, JCH
Publishers Weekly review
Posted on October 16, 2007
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Detroit Noir got a nice review at Publishers Weekly (wk. of 9/24/07):
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6480269.html?
(about halfway down the page)
As link URLs are sometimes temporary, here’s the text of the review:
Detroit Noir
Edited by E.J. Olsen and John C. Hocking.
Akashic, $14.95 paper (300p) ISBN 978-1-933354-39-2While the many fans of Akashic’s consistently high-quality series might have expected the Motor City to be tapped sooner (maybe before the Twin Cities), they will find the delay well worth the wait. Few cities are as well suited to the genre as Detroit, with its embattled inner city and history of urban decline and blight, and the editors have assembled a talented lineup to do it justice with 16 original short stories. The always superb Loren D. Estleman starts the anthology off on a high note with his spare hard-boiled whodunit short, “Kill the Cat.” The constantly simmering background threat of violence informs two very different but equally accomplished tales: Joyce Carol Oates’s “Panic” and Detroit Free Press columnist Desiree Cooper’s “Night Coming.” The editors also include some well-done period pieces, like the 1950s-era “The Coffee Break” by Detroit News business editor Melissa Preddy, and their discerning selections maintain Akashic’s excellent track record. (Nov.)
As editors, we are fans of all the stories within Detroit Noir, but it was nice to see several contributors singled out for their efforts.
- EJO, JCH
Welcome to Detroit Noir
Posted on October 16, 2007
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We, the editors of Detroit Noir, welcome you to our site.
Detroit Noir is the latest in the Akashic Books Noir Series and is due to hit bookstores in late October/early November.
Launched by the summer ‘04 award-winning, best-seller, Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting excerpts from the stories in Detroit Noir, as well as short interviews with the contributors.
You’ll also see updated information about Detroit Noir author events happening all over the Metro area during November and December.
We hope you’ll have as much fun reading Detroit Noir as we did putting it together, and we hope to meet you at one of our events this coming fall.
E.J. Olsen
John C. Hocking
Editors, Detroit Noir