Haiti Noir 2: The Classics - Paperback

by Edwidge Danticat (Editor), Danielle Legros Georges (Contribution by), Jacques Roumain (Contribution by)

Edwidge Danticat's short story from Haiti Noir 2: The Classics, The Port-au-Prince Marriage Special, was included in Ms. Magazine's Fall 2013 issue.

A worthy sequel that skillfully uses a popular genre to help us better understand an often frustratingly complex and indecipherable society.
--Miami Herald

There is danger and regret and fear in these stories, as characters try to negotiate a complex and often confounding land.
--Miami Herald, Feature on Haiti Noir 2 Miami launch

Presents an excellent array of writers, primarily Haitian, whose graphic descriptions portray a country ravaged by corruption, crime, and mystery....This selection of Haitian classics is a must read for everyone.
--The Caribbean Writer

Just when you thought you have read it all and have experienced the best of literary brilliance, there comes along an unrivaled work of narrative intensity, penned with a spellbinding authenticity. Haiti Noir 2 is just that work of art....A rare gem.
--Kaieteur News Online

Quite a collection...a multi-generational tour of Haiti's literature...It makes you feel as if some things out to have Part twos.
--Kreyolicious

This is a great collection of stories set in Haiti.
--Book Nerd

Praise for the original Haiti Noir:

Danticat has succeeded in assembling a group portrait of Haitian culture and resilience that is cause for celebration.
--Publishers Weekly

This anthology will give American readers a complex and nuanced portrait of the real Haiti not seen on the evening news and introduce them to some original and wonderful writers.
--Library Journal

While the publisher defines the term 'noir' broadly--requiring sinister tales or crime stories that evoke a strong sense of place and do not have happy endings--the Haiti book offers its own spin with plenty of grisly crime, dire poverty, and references to magic and religion. There is also some tenderness.
--New York Times

Launched with 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.

Classic stories by: Danielle Legros Georges, Jacques Roumain, Ida Faubert, Jacques-Stephen Alexis, Jan J. Dominique, Paulette Poujol Oriol, Lyonel Trouillot, Emmelie Proph te, Ben Fountain, Dany Laferri re, Georges Anglade, Edwidge Danticat, Mich le Voltaire Marcelin, zili Dant , Marie-H l ne Laforest, Nick Stone, Maril ne Phipps-Kettlewell, Myriam J.A. Chancey, and Roxane Gay.

From the introduction by Edwidge Danticat:

How often are you asked to put together an amazing literary party? In my case, a mind-blowing two times. The lit party of my dreams has been Haiti Noir, and lo and behold, I get asked to do it again...After the first Haiti Noir was published, people kept asking if I wasn't contributing to a negative image of the country by editing a book filled with so many 'dark' stories about Haiti. My answer was, and remains, that showing the brilliance of our writers and their ability to address Haiti's difficulties through their art can only contribute to a more nuanced and complex presentation of Haitian lives. After all, the writers here are not Haiti virgins, to paraphrase from 'Heading South, ' Dany Laferri re's story, included here, of sex tourism gone wrong. They are all old hats, either by blood or their deep love for Haiti...This is not just a party, folks, but also a costume party, a noir party. The author of each story, poem, or novel excerpt has shed his or her skin and has sunk into the deepest and most revealing places of the human heart.

Author Biography

Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was twelve. She is the editor of Haiti Noir and author of several books, including Claire of the Sea Light, , Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner; and the novel-in-stories The Dew Breaker. She lives in Miami, Florida.