Addis Ababa Noir (Akashic Noir)
Description
Addis Ababa is a sprawling melting pot of cultures where rich and poor live side by side in relative harmony—until they don't.
Maaza Mengiste’s story “Dust, Ash, Flight” has won the 2021 Edgar Award for Best Short Story, presented by the Mystery Writers of America
“Several of the 14 stories here, most of them striking and accomplished, involve post-revolution loss, guilt and revenge. Some are surreal—fitting for a culture where, as Mengiste writes in her introduction, ‘there are men who live in the mountains of Ethiopia and can turn into hyenas.'” —Washington Post
Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city.
Brand-new stories by: Maaza Mengiste, Adam Reta, Mahtem Shiferraw, Linda Yohannes, Sulaiman Addonia, Meron Hadero, Mikael Awake, Lelissa Girma, Rebecca Fisseha, Solomon Hailemariam, Girma T. Fantaye, Teferi Nigussie Tafa, Hannah Giorgis, and Bewketu Seyoum.
Praise for Addis Ababa Noir (Akashic Noir)
While most stories told about or set in Africa deny the continent and the nearly 60 countries that constitute it narrative complexity, this anthology works overtime to get specific about the people and problems that define Addis Ababa.
— Los Angeles Review of Books
A taut collection of thrilling stories that encompasses modes from the realistic to the uncanny.
— Vol. 1 Brooklyn
The 14 stories in the collection give one a snapshot of Ethiopian writers, new and established, and of what they can do. It makes one scramble for more of their work. Mengiste and Akashic have done us a service by putting together this intriguing collection.
— New York Journal of Books
Each contributor embraces day-to-day life in Ethiopia, and fills each story with a rich sense of time, place, and character. The authors reveal much about a culture unfamiliar to many American readers.
— Publishers Weekly
Novelist Mengiste presents 14 stories showcasing Ethiopia’s capital at its darkest . . . A nice variety of bad behavior. East, West: Noir’s best.
— Kirkus Reviews